The Only Way to Wake Up
by Amphryxia
Summary: In a world where The Dark Lord was never defeated by Harry as a baby, he ushered in a society that put purebloods at the top and mudbloods on the very bottom. Pansy could have any mudblood servant she wants, but as far as she's concerned, Hermione is just perfect. Smut!
1. Waking up

Pansy opened her eyes, taking in the sunlight streaming into the room as well as the feeling of the gentle lapping of her maid's tongue. She'd told the mudblood there was only one way to awaken her mistress, and Hermione was lightly flicking her tongue over Pansy's pussy lips. Of course, it would have been difficult for Hermione to fulfill those terms if Pansy hadn't been sleeping naked. Pansy stretched and considered whether there was any reason to get up. She glanced at her bedside table and saw the steaming cup of coffee Hermione had place there, as well as this morning's Daily Prophet.

There was no hurry. Pansy picked up the coffee and inhaled deeply while spreading her legs slightly. Just as expected, Hermione took that as an indication to start licking faster. Pansy couldn't keep a self-satisfied smile from forming on her face. Having such a well-trained mudblood servant was the only way to live—for purebloods like herself, of course. Both of them were simply in their natural places.

Pansy sipped her coffee, pleased that Hermione had added the perfect amount of cream and sugar. The mudblood's talented tongue was flicking over the places that she knew would pleasure her mistress the most. It was quickly getting to the point where Pansy had to put her coffee down and settle a hand possessively over her maid's head while running her fingers through Hermione's chestnut hair.

Pansy closed her eyes and let the waves of pleasure float through her. She was lucky really, to have a servant that was so obedient, so dedicated to serving her. Any other mudbloods could be made to do the same thing, largely; but they would be sullen or frightened, and either would have been enough to extinguish any desire Pansy might have felt around them.

After Pansy had done the early work of training Hermione, she'd suggested teasingly that the mudblood might soon be learning a different kind of service. Pansy had simply been curious how Hermione would react, expecting to see shock or disgust. But the definite blush that had filled Hermione's cheeks was very intriguing; and Pansy, who'd never go so far as to force a mudblood to have sex with her, had suddenly wondered if Hermione wanted it.

Her approaching orgasm once again proved how willing Hermione must be. She could't be this good otherwise, right? Pansy arched her back as she felt the electrifying heat spread out from her pussy. It rolled through Pansy's body and drove practically all thought from her head. What remained was the knowledge that her mudblood servant was an absolute treasure.

Conscious thought eventually returned to Pansy and she saw Hermione was now looking upwards at her mistress, her tongue flicking slowly and lightly now. As tempting as it was to settle in for another round, Pansy knew Hermione's tongue didn't have limitless endurance.

"I'm going to take a shower. After I eat breakfast, I'm going for a ride," Pansy said simply. That Hermione was to take care of all of these things did not need to be said.

"Yes, Mistress," Hermione said, inclining her head.

Hermione stood up from the bed and Pansy had a clear look at her. She was wearing the seemingly demure-looking, but form-fitting, black and white maid's outfit she always wore during the day—barring special occasions. Her hair was in its natural bushy state. Early on, Pansy had told her to use Sleekeasy's Hair Potion, but had since decided that Hermione's natural hair was fine.

Pansy's eyes drifted slightly downward and noted that Hermione was wearing her silver choker. It was formed like a snake coiling around her neck, with both ends fastened together to form a snake's head. Small emeralds glittered in the eye sockets. It was quite an expensive piece of jewelry for a mudblood, but Pansy felt Hermione deserved it. The choker marked her as having the relatively privileged position of being a favored servant to a pureblood family. Its presence would enable Hermione to lord it over her fellow mudbloods, but Pansy had detected no change in her manner. She was just as gracious and kind to everyone as before.

As Hermione turned around to leave, Pansy saw what made her outfit not as demure as it seemed from the front. It was altered to leave her exposed all the way down to the small of her back. Her black bra could be clearly seen there, but that wasn't what drew Pansy's eye. It was the intricate tattoo on her otherwise flawless skin. The Parkinson family crest had been painstakingly applied there. Seeing that always made Pansy smile. It was comforting, as if it somehow assured her that Hermione would always be hers.

After Hermione left, Pansy picked up the Daily Prophet and glanced at the front page. It was full of the usual propaganda pieces. The Dark Lord had long since determined what was allowed to be published in any newspaper. Stories about dangerous mudbloods that were rumored to have wands were always there, as well as muggles behaving stupidly and brutishly to each other. Pansy knew better than to take any of it at face value. It was simply smart to appear knowledgeable about the supposed issues.

A few minutes was enough time for Hermione to have turned on the shower and set the heat to the level she knew her mistress liked. Pansy got up from her bed and walked down the hall, naked as could be. Opening the bathroom door, Pansy felt the steam collecting in the room and went into the shower without pausing. Her trust that Hermione had set the temperature correctly was absolute.

Once again, Pansy felt that strange emotion as the water ran over her body. She would have said it was love, but loving a mudblood was not done. Everyone she knew would have been aghast at the thought. It must be gratitude for the excellent service she received, Pansy decided. That and desire. For the first time, Pansy wondered why she didn't have Hermione here washing her. That would certainly be entertaining. Ah well. Next time.

(What do you guys think?I love reviews! I may continue the story and go into more detail about Pansy and Hermione's relationship if there's any interest)


	2. Who knew reciprocating was so much fun?

Pansy came back from her ride through the forest to find an empty entrance hall. Hermione was often waiting there to ask if her mistress required anything, but not today. As Pansy hadn't told her to do anything more than saddle her horse, Hermione had some free time. And there was only one place the mudblood could be.

Pansy climbed the staircase to the study. The mudblood placement agency Pansy had selected Hermione from had told her that she was quite the bookworm. She would read any book or newspaper in the building from cover to cover. Pansy disliked employing the "stick" in keeping her servant obedient, so access to the study and its many books was useful in keeping Hermione motivated to please. Not that spanking Hermione didn't cross Pansy's mind a few times, but using corporal punishment was beneath a pureblood like her.

Pansy quietly opened the door and saw what she expected. Hermione was laying face-down on the long sofa with her nose in a thick book. She'd taken off her low heels and her stockinged feet were in the air. Many mudbloods wouldn't be allowed this kind of leisure time, but Pansy saw no reason to not to keep her servant happy when she could. After taking a moment to enjoy the view, she sat down on the edge of the sofa next to Hermione. Hermione jerked in surprise and looked up at Pansy, who smiled at her.

"Yes Mistress?" Hermione asked slowly.

In lieu of a reply, Pansy starting stroking Hermione's hair. The mudblood's hair had seemed unkempt and overly bushy when she first arrived, especially compared to Pansy's straight and stylish bob. Now though, Pansy enjoyed just running her fingers through it and wouldn't have let Hermione change it if she asked. Hermione must have been used to this by now because she turned back to her book.

"What are you reading, pet?" Pansy asked, using a friendly name to encourage Hermione to speak. The mudblood was always obedient to instructions, but it could be difficult to get her to speak freely when Pansy wanted her to.

" _Hogwarts, A History_ , Mistress. I've...always wondered what it would be like to go to Hogwarts," Hermione said, her voice dropping considerably at the end.

A wave of sympathy broke over Pansy before she caught herself. A mudblood going to Hogwarts? Ridiculous. Sure, there had been a time when mudbloods could, but the Dark Lord had made certain that was over. Both of them had grown up knowing that. Pansy sometimes wished it wasn't so, if only for Hermione's sake. Most mudbloods might not be fit to learn magic, but her mudblood was clever, respectful and obedient.

"It's not all it's cracked up to be. Sometimes I wish I didn't have to go," Pansy said, wending her finger through Hermione's hair to find the silver choker that coiled around the mudblood's neck.

"But you get to learn magic! And the library has the largest collection of magical books in Britain! I would give anything to go...Mistress." Hermione said, remembering herself at the end.

Pansy traced her finger around the silver scales of the choker, thinking about how to respond. The jewelry was enchanted to always be warm against the skin. Combined with the way the silver coils gently moved to accommodate the minute movements of her throat, it almost seemed alive. For a split second Pansy had the strange desire to pull it off of Hermione. But she wouldn't. Beyond the expense, it was a sign that her mudblood was not someone who could be mistreated without angering whoever her patron was.

"The castle is beautiful, pet. But Hogwarts has more than its share of foul people now. The teachers are mostly Death Eaters. They monitor the students and report to the Dark Lord. Everyone pretends to be happy but really, we're all afraid..." Pansy murmured absently, only now realizing Hermione was looking at her with some concern.

Maybe she should be. Pansy clearly needed to get a grip on herself. Nobody talked about these things for a reason. It was time to steer the conversation to a more pleasant place. Pansy began by moving her fingers down Hermione's exposed back, pausing a second to unhook her bra and move her copious amounts of hair aside. She could hear Hermione's breath speed up.

"They certainly wouldn't be as kind to you as I am," Pansy said with a small smile, bending down to kiss the smooth skin of her back while her fingers moved lower to the tattoo.

The Parkinson family crest appeared on Hermione's lower back in perfect detail. Pansy had it applied months ago after the first time she experienced the mudblood's tongue on her pussy. Just one time was enough for Pansy to want to mark Hermione as permanently hers. Strictly speaking, Pansy could remove it at any time, but the sight pleased her so much that she doubted she ever would.

Pansy's lips had reached the crest, which meant her fingers needed to go even lower. With a smile and the knowledge that Hermione's face must be blazing red, Pansy flipped Hermione's skirt upward and examined the black panties underneath. They were tightly formed hipsters that framed her ass nicely. It was likely not the most comfortable underwear to wear, but any panties worn by her mudblood were for Pansy's pleasure first and foremost. Pansy already knew how much Hermione wanted it, but as she gently traced the area right over Hermione's pussy, she was thrilled to find a definite wet spot.

"Hmm, excited, are we?" Pansy teased, using a second finger to trace the outside edges of Hermione's pussy.

"Yes Mistress, please!" came a muffled request from Hermione, who had covered her face with her hair in embarrassment.

"Please...what?" Pansy said with a slightly sadistic smile, knowing Hermione had a very difficult time verbalizing sexual terms.

"Please touch my...my..." Hermione trailed off, mumbling something that could conceivably be approaching the word "pussy", if Pansy had been feeling generous.

It turned out that she was. Pansy enjoyed how different this was compared to their usual routine. Hermione was always willing and never hesitated to pleasure Pansy on command but was far more embarrassed on the rare occasions when Pansy wanted to pleasure her. Pansy herself never felt any embarrassment, knowing her body was near perfect in her own view. And as endearing as Hermione's shyness was, Pansy would have preferred her to have the same confidence.

"Very well, pet," Pansy said warmly, relishing what was coming.

With a smooth motion, Pansy slid Hermione's panties down. A muffled sound that came somewhere from Hermione's head was ignored. The mudblood had a pristine pussy that was quite hairless, Pansy having told her to keep herself smooth there. A previous exploration session had confirmed that Hermione was a virgin. That knowledge made Pansy inexplicably happy. Hermione's pussy was glistening with wetness and it was making Pansy wonder how it might taste. She had only ever rubbed Hermione to orgasm before, thinking that licking someone there was a task more suited to mudbloods. But Pansy's curiosity was getting the better of her.

Pansy positioned herself behind Hermione and locked her arms underneath the mudblood's thighs. This was definitely going to surprise her. Pansy lifted Hermione's ass into the air, prompting a squeak. That squeak was nothing compared to the loud gasp Pansy heard the moment her tongue touched Hermione's pussy. The taste wasn't bad at all really. The feeling of Hermione squirming around on the sofa, unable to escape, was much more delicious.

"Mistress! That's...that's...ahhh!" Hermione panted, rapidly losing the ability to form complete words.

Pansy continued to move her tongue from the top to the bottom of Hermione's pussy, paying special attention to the small knub that had poked out from the moment Pansy had started licking. Pansy knew from Hermione's frequent oral service how pleasurable that knub felt when it was given plenty of attention. From the mudblood's involuntary moaning whenever her tongue drifted over it, Pansy was sure she was quickly pushing Hermione towards an orgasm.

The shriek that left Hermione's mouth surprised Pansy a bit, but it did signal that Hermione was cumming. She rapidly moved her tongue all over Hermione's pussy, feeling the slight spasms that were traveling through her orgasming body. Hermione was never this loud before. It wasn't unpleasant, but Pansy planned to bring something to occupy the mudblood's mouth next time. Finally Hermione quieted down and seemed to slacken in Pansy's grasp, as if she'd lost all energy. Pansy gave Hermione's pussy a quick kiss and had planned to let her go. But the quiver that went through her mudblood's body at the kiss gave her other ideas.

"Was that fun, pet?" Pansy asked, somewhat out of breath herself.

"Y-yes Mistress..." came the drained reply from Hermione.

"Good, because we're not done," Pansy said lightly, gearing herself for another round.

Pansy got a better grip on Hermione's thighs and lifted her a little higher. A moan left Hermione's mouth as Pansy's tongue got to work. She could feel Hermione squirming helplessly on the sofa again, but her mudblood wasn't going anywhere. If only Pansy had known how fun this was!


	3. Nip Slip!

Pansy was lying on her bed and reading the letters she had received. One was the standard letter from Hogwarts, telling her the books she needed for her 7th year and reminding her that term began on September 1st. The other letter contained a Head Girl badge and a letter of congratulations from Slughorn. She should have been feeling great. As a pureblood 7th year student, a member of the Slug Club and now Head Girl, Pansy would be something like royalty at Hogwarts this year. So why did she feel so unhappy?

A glance outside her room told her the answer. Hermione was in the hall outside, scrubbing the floor on her hands and knees. Pansy had been lenient about the mudblood's duties for the past couple of months, but with her parents returning soon after she left for Hogwarts, the manor needed to be spotless.

With some difficulty, Pansy held back on the impulse to wave her wand and do the cleaning in a fraction of the time it would take the mudblood to do without magic. It would be kind in the short term, but her parents would not be so generous and Hermione needed to get used to the work. Perhaps it wouldn't be so kind anyway; she couldn't ignore the sad and envious expression on Hermione's face every time Pansy used her wand. As a result, Pansy found herself being discrete with her magic.

Pansy was a little thirsty, but she didn't get up. Whether she called for Hermione to bring her something to drink or walked past the mudblood to get it herself, the end result would bring the two of them in close proximity. Lately Pansy simply couldn't get that close to Hermione without succumbing to the desire to toy with her. The mudblood's hair was just so soft, her skin was just so smooth, and the way her cheeks slowly reddened every time she noticed Pansy was watching her was irresistible. Her blushing had certainly increased ever since Pansy told her not to wear panties anymore.

And honestly, it was more than that. Hermione seemed to have a lot on her mind, but years of the "education" she had received for being a mudblood had no doubt made her conclude she was better off by keeping her mouth shut. Pansy may have been satisfied with a servant whose verbal repertoire was mainly composed of "Yes Mistress" or "No Mistress" in the beginning, but that wasn't the case any more. Pansy wanted to know what Hermione was thinking and didn't mind expending the effort of coaxing those thoughts out.

Well, mostly. Pansy had once asked Hermione if her mistress ever snored, and the slight pause before Hermione answered "No Mistress" was a little suspicious. In that case Pansy felt no need to dig deeper for the truth there.

She had put it off for as long as she could, but it was time to talk to Hermione about this. Pansy got up from her bed, noticing that the mudblood's rate of cleaning had instantly slowed. Understandable, considering that whenever Pansy came near her lately, any work would be forgotten for some time.

Pansy walked out of her room and went directly to her mudblood. Hermione stopped cleaning and looked up while balancing a little awkwardly on the ground. Pansy smiled as she realized Hermione was trying to keep her skirt level and avoid flashing something in any direction. Her mudblood's enduring shyness was amusing, considering how familiar Pansy was with what she was trying to hide.

Pansy crouched down to be even with Hermione's height. It wasn't going to be an easy conversation. Hermione was perceptive and had an almost alarming ability to accurately grasp the situation with very little information. It was possible she already knew what Pansy was going to tell her.

She didn't immediately intend to, but being so near Hermione once again made Pansy's self-discipline crumble. Her hand went up to stroke Hermione's hair almost of its own accord. That she wouldn't be able to feel her servant's long and beautifully bushy hair whenever she wanted suddenly put a sour taste in her mouth. The adulation she would undoubtedly receive at Hogwarts would be a poor replacement for Hermione. Well, telling her that Pansy would be leaving for awhile didn't have to be a tearful conversation. She could make it fun.

Pansy cleared her throat slightly and asked a question that was absolutely guaranteed to embarrass Hermione.

"Are you wearing any panties, pet?" Pansy asked with a teasing smile.

As expected, Hermione reddened. Pansy knew she wasn't wearing any, as Hermione was too obedient not to follow any order she had been given. The knowledge was exciting for Pansy, but lately she didn't really know what she wanted. One part of her wished to give Hermione a little more independence, while the other part knew that Hermione's obedience infatuated her with the mudblood. The latter part was especially strong whenever she was near Hermione.

"No Mistress," Hermione murmured, shaking her head and looking somewhere to the left of Pansy, as if that would help with the redness in her cheeks.

"Hmmm. Why don't you show me?" Pansy asked, making an upward motion with the finger on her other hand.

If Hermione was embarrassed before, that was nothing compared to now. With a very slight tremble in her hands, she raised the edge of skirt up to her waist and exposed her bare pussy to Pansy's delighted eyes.

"Good girl. Hold it there, pet," Pansy instructed. This would put an interesting spin on the conversation.

"I'm going to Hogwarts in a week and we need to talk about a few things," Pansy said lightly, switching her focus to Hermione's face.

Her mudblood's eyebrows furrowed in indignation as she realized her mistress intended to have this conversation with Hermione exposing herself the entire time. Pansy would have taken that a little more seriously if she didn't glance down and see evidence of her mudblood's excitement. A little wetness aside, the small knub that drove Hermione wild had begun to poke out. As she always did whenever it appeared, Pansy immediately reached out and rubbed it lightly.

Hermione gave a small gasp and seemed to struggle with herself for a moment. Pansy could tell quite easily that the mudblood's impulse to drop her skirt was warring with the order that she had been given to keep it up. Beautifully, she kept her skirt up. Pansy felt that oddly keening emotion fill her again. It was getting harder and harder to say that it wasn't love. And yet, if she did love the mudblood, would she treat her like this?

Pansy wasn't quite ready to go down wherever that led. But in the meantime, she could do something she had never done with the mudblood before. Hermione's lips were slightly pursed. Pansy assumed they were holding in moans and not angry remarks that she dared not speak aloud. Or Pansy hoped so. And rather than ask Hermione, she was just going to kiss her. Pansy slowed down the speed of her fingers to imperceptibly trace Hermione's pussy. She did at least want the mudblood's attention on the coming kiss and not down below.

Pansy closed her eyes, leaned in and kissed Hermione softly. It certainly felt nice. Hermione was even starting to kiss her back! She wouldn't have blamed the mudblood if she had just passively accepted the kiss, but the feel of Hermione's lips meeting her own was enough to make Pansy feel almost giddy. She moved in closer to the mudblood, her lips getting more insistent.

It was a bit of a shock when Hermione started to tip backward. The mudblood was poorly balanced on her knees and with her hands still occupied with keeping her skirt up, she couldn't put them behind her to break her fall. Pansy grabbed for Hermione, but her own uneven position only managed to get her pulled down together with the mudblood.

Pansy was on top of Hermione, with them both breathing rather heavily. They had been in similar positions, but Pansy could tell from Hermione's wide eyes that she was thinking the same thing; this was different. Pansy dipped her head to kiss Hermione again. She had never french kissed anyone before but very clearly felt that Hermione was the one she wanted to share that experience with. Hermione didn't hesitate to open her mouth after Pansy's tongue moved against her lips. The knowledge that her mudblood wanted it just as much as she did drove Pansy to kiss her deeper.

Pansy couldn't stop herself from touching Hermione while kissing her, but she didn't want to turn it back into their normal routine, at least not yet. She contented herself with running her hands over Hermione's arms, shoulders, and moving them down her body. Hermione was just perfect. Pansy knew that keeping mudbloods from learning magic was wrong - at least mudbloods like hers - but at the moment, she didn't care. She was grateful that magical society kept Hermione dependent on her and powerless to leave. Because Pansy was just now realizing how much she needed her and how devastated she would be if she lost her perfect mudblood.

Pansy felt like kissing Hermione for the next day or two, but they did have a few things to talk about. She broke the kiss regretfully and used her hands to push herself up to a sitting position so that she was straddling Hermione. The mudblood looked beautiful on the ground with her hair splayed around her head and her cheeks flushed. Her lips were ever so slightly open, and Pansy was barely able to resist kissing her again.

"As I was saying, pet, I'm going to Hogwarts for my 7th year. You're going to have to stay here," Pansy said sadly, knowing how unfair it was for both of them.

Hermione nodded and Pansy thought she saw a fleeting glimpse of the envious look the mudblood always got when the subject of Hogwarts or magic came up. Every time she saw that look, Pansy felt like she needed to do something. But what? Procuring a wand for a mudblood was incredibly risky. It would mean Azkaban for both of them if they were caught. Probably. Pansy's parents might be able to negotiate a lesser penalty for their daughter, but she would certainly never see Hermione again. And she couldn't risk that. All she could do right now was to provide a fun distraction.

Pansy reached up with both hands to Hermione's shoulders and fiddled with the straps holding her maid's dress up. A few weeks ago she had told Hermione to alter the straps so they had buttons holding them together. The mudblood had superb sewing skills and had sewn her own dress to Pansy's specifications. Unbuttoning the straps would cause her dress to fall to her ankles if she was standing up.

Unfortunately she couldn't work the tiny buttons and Pansy wasn't feeling especially patient. She simply tore the buttons off the shoulder straps and tugged the mudblood's dress down. Hermione's nipples were exposed in a trice and Pansy was pleased to see they were already hardened. She couldn't have resisted teasing them if she tried. Pansy immediately moved her fingers to Hermione's nipples and began pinching and rolling them between her thumb and index finger. Hermione gasped and started squirming deliciously.

"You'll need to be a good girl while I'm gone. Can you do that, pet?" Pansy asked, not letting up on Hermione's sensitive nipples for even a second.

"Y-yes Mistress! I will! W-When will you be back?" Hermione stammered, clearly trying not to get lost in the pleasure she was feeling.

"Christmas, pet. I'm coming back then and we'll spend every moment we can together. I promise," Pansy said, knowing she would be so eager to see her mudblood by then that she would ravish Hermione's body to exhaustion and then some.

Hermione was clearly enjoying the stimulation, but she wasn't overcome by it yet. Pansy could fix that. She dipped her head down to Hermione's left nipple and began sucking earnestly. Her mudblood made a sound that was between a shriek and a moan. Could she actually make Hermione orgasm just from this? She could certainly try.

Pansy let Hermione's nipple go with an audible pop. She shifted her attention to the right nipple while returning her fingers to the left one. Pansy was more gentle here. She sucked lightly and swirled her tongue around the mudblood's nipple in quick circles. To Pansy's delight, she could feel Hermione starting to arch her back. By now Pansy could read her mudblood's body like a book and knew Hermione was quickly being brought to orgasm. Pansy did what she could to hasten it by speeding up her tongue and mimicking the same motion with her fingers on the other side.

A now familiar shriek rent the air as Hermione came. The mudblood twisted helplessly underneath Pansy, unable to do a single thing to stop the waves of pleasure from rolling through her. It was simply a matter of keeping her still and continuing to suck her nipple to give Hermione the most pleasure she could. It was pretty amazing. Pansy doubted she could orgasm simply from her own nipples being stimulated. But that would be a task for her mudblood later.

Eventually Hermione stopped squirming. Pansy took that as an opportunity to let go of the nipple in her mouth and pushed herself back up. Though the mudblood seemed almost delirious, Pansy thought Hermione looked even more beautiful now than she did before. Her hair was splayed out further and her lips were even more kissable. This time Pansy didn't fight it and bent down to give her mudblood a quick peck. That was her intention anyway, but as soon as she did, Pansy kissed Hermione deeply and was immensely gratified that even in her recovering state, Hermione kissed her back.

After maybe a minute, Pansy broke the kiss and pushed herself up again. She glanced at Hermione's nipples and was amused to see that they were still hard, though now they were red and puffy. Another round might be fun, but those nipples were clearly too tender to be stimulated again any time soon.

She had no idea that Hermione would like it that much. Pansy had never considered this before, but piercing them might be fun. Imagining Hermione with silver rings in her nipples, perhaps with tiny bells attached, was exciting. It would be going a little far and Hermione would no doubt die of embarrassment if she ever had to walk around with them on. Pansy couldn't do that to her, but it was a fun idea.

Maybe it would be a good Christmas present? Pansy couldn't help but giggle at the thought.


	4. The day before leaving

Pansy lounged on the sofa in the drawing room, listening to the sounds of Hermione at the sewing machine. Lying there was comfortable, but it didn't quite compare to the previous hour she'd spent on it. For one thing, the heavy tome Pansy was holding was a poor substitute for her maid.

It was the day before Pansy was set to return to Hogwarts, and she was determined to get a years worth of kissing done before the next morning. An hour ago, Pansy invited Hermione to join her on the sofa. It was in the middle of the afternoon, and occasionally Pansy would take a short nap at about 3 pm. Pansy found she slept much better with her maid nestled close by, so Pansy frequently bade Hermione to nap with her. Perhaps Hermione was expecting this, but sleep was the last thing on Pansy's mind. As soon as they'd curled up together, Pansy kissed her deeply and didn't stop for almost half an hour.

After twenty minutes, Hermione had briefly broken their kiss to say (after taking a breath or two) that she really needed to get to work on her new, more modest maid's dress. "Later" was Pansy's reply, and they'd gone back to kissing and gently moving their hands through each other's hair. It was only after they had both felt the setting sun fall on them from the window that Pansy allowed Hermione to get up and return to her duties.

Pansy thumbed through the tome Hermione had left on the table next to the sofa some time previously. "An Appraisal Of Magical Education In Europe, Revised Edition" was not Pansy's idea of an entertaining read, and that wasn't even accounting for the slanted editing that had been inserted into this book. Pansy knew that previous editions of the book had been placed on the Ministry's Banned List. Anyone caught in possession of a book deemed dangerous by Ministry censors risked a stay in Azkaban. Being a proper pureblood, Pansy's father had destroyed every book they had that was on The List.

In this newly edited book, anywhere that might have mentioned mudbloods being accepted into Hogwarts had been erased. Slytherin was presented as the main founder of the school, and the falling out between them and the other founders wasn't even mentioned. If Pansy hadn't gone to Hogwarts herself and seen the evidence for her own eyes, she wouldn't have known that there were ever any other houses in the school.

It was as if they were trying to pretend mudbloods had never had the opportunity to attend Hogwarts. Pansy's heart broke for a minute, thinking about Hermione reading this. It was only the fact that she knew Hermione was far too clever to swallow the bilge in this book that stopped Pansy from getting up and telling her maid the truth about how Hogwarts used to be. Well, that and the fact that it was really comfortable to lie there on the sofa and listen to the rhythmic hum of the sewing machine.

Hermione's fingers were deftly moving around the rapidly plunging needle of the sewing machine in the corner. Pansy once again marveled at how skilled her mudblood was. Pansy wouldn't have had the slightest clue how to sew a dress, with magic or without. She had never touched a sewing needle in her life. But Hermione was quickly turning a sheet of black fabric into a recognizable maid's outfit.

A much more modest maid's outfit than the one Pansy had designed for her. If you counted telling Hermione to "Make the back of the dress plunge, I want to be able to see the crest there," or "Raise the skirt a little" as designing, as Hermione had obviously done all of the work of sewing her own dress. Hermione had done fine work indeed, as Pansy often had trouble taking her eyes off of her maid.

But that had to end. Pansy's parents were returning to the manor just as Pansy was leaving to go back to Hogwarts. That was not coincidental, as Pansy and her parents had quite a bit of friction between them. Some years before, Pansy had dashed their carefully laid plans to have her become engaged to Draco Malfoy. The arguments between them had been fierce, but finally they dropped the matter. Pansy couldn't exactly blame them for pushing her to make a respectable, pureblood marriage though. A pureblood girl who had graduated from school was expected to marry. Failing that, the alternative was joining the Death Eaters.

Her stomach turned, and Pansy forced herself to think about something else. She didn't have to cross that bridge for another year. What else was there to think of? Well, the reason why Hermione needed a modest dress to wear. Her parents were coming back, and Pansy needed them to think Hermione was simply her maid and nothing more. A black maid's outfit with a high collar, long skirt, and demure fitting was necessary for that. Although Pansy took a moment to mourn the form-fitting outfit Hermione was currently wearing.

The sewing machine stopped and Pansy looked up. Was it really possible that her mudblood had finished the dress so quickly? It seemed Hermione had. Her maid stood up and held the dress close to her body. Pansy suddenly had an idea for how to get some use out of the new outfit.

"It looks good! Try it on." Pansy instructed Hermione from her prone position on the sofa.

Hermione blinked for a moment before following Pansy's instructions. She set the new maid's outfit down on the table and unbuttoned the shoulder straps holding her dress up. Hermione was blushing by now, and Pansy quite enjoyed the sight of her maid slowly letting her dress fall. As per Pansy's previous orders, Hermione was naked underneath. Hermione turned around shyly to pick the dress up from the table, and the only thing covering her bare skin now was the Parkinson family crest that had been tattooed on her lower back. That gave Pansy an idea that she filed away for later.

Pansy got up from the sofa. Hermione, who had heard the noise, stopped fiddling with the new dress on the table. Her maid looked back at Pansy with a bemused expression. She seemed to know exactly what was on Pansy's mind, and in fact probably knew it as soon as Pansy had told her to try on the new dress. So it was that Hermione, naked and with her back turned to Pansy, simply waited for her mistress reach her.

Pansy, before embracing her maid from behind, shifted Hermione's copious amount of hair to the side. It was the one annoyance Pansy had with Hermione's bushy brown hair; it made her neck harder to reach.

Pansy softly kissed Hermione's neck and felt her maid's legs tremble. Hermione had a spot on her neck, right below her ears, that caused her to absolutely melt when it was kissed. Pansy, who had found that spot a few days ago, made certain to give it plenty of loving attention several times a day.

As Pansy continued to kiss her maid's neck, her hands traveled over Hermione's bare shoulders and down her chest. She was gratified, and unsurprised, to find Hermione's nipples were hard. Pansy took a moment to decide between teasing them gently and pinching them roughly. A gentle touch seemed to fit the mood better, so she rolled them between her fingers, only gripping them lightly.

"Ohh!" Hermione gasped beautifully as she instinctively arched her back, trying to get Pansy to stimulate her nipples more.

To Hermione's temporary disappointment, Pansy stopped teasing her maid's left nipple. Instead, Pansy slid her hand downward, making certain to keep her fingers in contact with Hermione's skin. She found Hermione's clit poking out slightly, and Pansy saw no reason not to give her maid's clit the attention it seemed to want. Hermione squirmed against her when Pansy rubbed it gently. She was intentionally not stimulating her maid's body as much as she could have. Why? Because Pansy wanted Hermione to beg her to.

"M-Mistress..." Hermione said breathily.

"Yes?" Pansy prompted, speeding her rubbing only slightly.

"I...I want to..." Hermione trailed off shakily.

"You want to...what?" Pansy asked her in a curious tone, as if she had no clue what Hermione was getting at.

"I want to...to...cum! Please let me cum!" Hermione begged, having barely gotten over the difficulty of verbalizing the word.

Pansy smiled and obliged. Her pet's embarrassment about her own sexuality amused her greatly. After all the things they had done together, Hermione's shyness about her body had faded. But her maid still seemed to struggle with the idea of saying sexual things out loud, as if it was something completely improper and embarrassing. Breaking Hermione of that shyness was a very entertaining activity for Pansy.

Pansy redoubled her efforts at kissing Hermione's neck. She idly wondered if her maid could actually orgasm solely from her neck being kissed, but she wouldn't have to. Hermione had been brave enough to verbalize a request for Pansy to make her climax, and Pansy would certainly fulfill that request.

Her fingers patiently coaxed Hermione's clit out. The more she rubbed, the more it poked out, which made it easier to stimulate. Pretty soon, Hermione was moving her hips against Pansy's hand while letting out some very enticing moans. Enough to get Pansy excited herself.

Hermione's breath was speeding up rapidly and Pansy was familiar enough with her maid's body to know that Hermione was about to orgasm. Suddenly, Pansy had the impulse to cease kissing Hermione's neck, and instead to whisper into her maid's ear.

"I love you so much, pet. I love you." Pansy whispered very softly.

Hermione bucked her hips even harder before starting to shriek. Her maid could be quite loud when she came, but Pansy didn't mind a bit. She enjoyed seeing Hermione lose control of herself amidst the pleasure, and did her best to hold Hermione against her as she rubbed her maid's clit as forcefully as she could. It was almost a minute of loud shrieks into sweeter sounding moans into shuddering gasps before Hermione was finished. Pansy had been all but holding her up for most it, and she waited until Hermione seemed to get a small measure of control over herself before she let go.

Pansy stepped back and smiled at her maid. She was excited herself and her knickers were a bit damp, but for some reason lately, she enjoyed pleasuring Hermione more than the other way around. Pansy didn't particularly need to climax herself anyway. Creating memories like this was what Pansy really wanted.

"Well pet, now that you're satisfied, try on the dress." Pansy said casually, as if that was her actual focus.

In truth, Pansy was enjoying the simple sight of Hermione recovering herself. Her cheeks were flushed, and somehow Hermione's hair always became bushier after she climaxed. Her maid's hands trembled just a touch as she picked up the dress and shakily pulled it over her head.

It looked very nice. Not very sexy, but that was the point. Hermione looked quite demure and proper in it. Enough so that her parents wouldn't expect a thing. Not from the dress, anyway.

"You look great. Very pretty, but modest." Pansy said, nodding appreciatively.

"Thank you, mistress." Hermione responded automatically.

Hermione was still looking directly at her though. Almost as if she wanted to say something. Pansy opened her mouth to ask what it was, and then quickly closed it. What if it was going to be about what Pansy had whispered in her ear earlier? It was a complete impulse and Pansy couldn't explain why she had done it.

Silence fell between them. It was the first awkward interaction with Hermione that Pansy could remember having in a while. What was the best way to get out of the situation? As Pansy was settling on lamely saying she was hungry, Hermione decided to speak.

"Did...Did you mean that?" Hermione asked her quietly.

Pansy thought for a moment before answering. Yes, she did. It was an impulse because Pansy wasn't ready to actually say it to Hermione, but she had. Pansy nodded and tried to think of something light-hearted to add to it, just to break the tension, but she could think of nothing. All she could do was look at Hermione, who looked right back at her. Suddenly, Hermione stepped toward her and Pansy froze. This was nothing like their usual interaction and Pansy had no idea what to do. But luckily, it seemed like Hermione had an idea.

Hermione reached Pansy, leaned forward, and kissed her softly. It wasn't like the insistent, forceful kisses they tended to share. It was more tender, and seemed to convey feelings beyond the sexual attraction that both of them clearly felt. After a few seconds, Pansy and Hermione broke apart. Neither of them said anything, but the silence had a completely different character to it than before.


	5. A Late Night Meeting

Pansy strolled down a corridor on the 7th floor of Hogwarts. She was late for her meet up with Hermione, but she didn't want to look like she was rushing anywhere. They hadn't told anyone they were dating yet. Instead, Pansy and Hermione would meet in empty classrooms all over the castle. Tonight, Pansy had picked the Arithmancy classroom. As Pansy neared the end of the corridor, she heard voices from around the corner.

"You know these are on Filch's list of banned items! I caught you with a Fanged Frisbee last week!" Hermione said fairly shrilly.

Pansy peered around the corner to see Hermione lecturing a couple of third years. Evidently, they'd been tossing the Ever-Bashing Boomerang that was even now quivering menacingly in her hand. Hermione's back was turned to Pansy, which gave her a wicked idea.

"And it's past curfew for third years! You should be in your dormitory by-" Hermione said severely, only to stop talking abruptly.

The reason for Hermione's sudden silence was the jinx that Pansy had sent at her. It was a harmless one of Pansy's own design. If Pansy casted it right, and she thought she did, it would unhook Hermione's bra from underneath her robes. The fact that Hermione quickly handed back the Ever-Bashing Boomerang before crossing her arms over her chest told Pansy that the jinx had worked.

"W-Well, go back to your dormitory." Hermione finished shakily.

The third years sniggered and took off with their boomerang. As soon as they were gone, Hermione turned around and fixed Pansy with an angry look. Pansy, just barely stopping herself from bursting out laughing, walked toward her.

"That wasn't funny! Those third-year boys are a menace. I was going to give them lines." Hermione said in annoyance, trying to hook her bra back together over her robes.

"Let them have a little fun tonight. We will, so why shouldn't they?" Pansy asked with an amused smile.

"Why Dumbledore ever made you a Prefect..." Hermione said underneath her breath.

"Did it really matter who else he chose? There's only so much Prefecting to do, and you handle all of it. I doubt Weasley lifts a finger when you're around." Pansy said, moving past Hermione to open the door of the Arithmancy classroom.

By now, Pansy had learned to read Hermione's mood and knew she wasn't as angry as she sounded. Sure enough, Hermione followed her into the classroom quickly enough.

Arithmancy was a mystery to Pansy. She had once asked Hermione to explain it to her only to be overwhelmed by numbers and equations. Pansy was dimly aware that it had to do with using numbers to figure out patterns, and that these patterns somehow connected with the real world. But math was absolutely not Pansy's strong point, and the bizarre equations written on the blackboard made no sense at all.

The reason Pansy had picked this classroom was that Hermione tended to act differently when they were in classrooms for classes that she took. She was quicker to blush, and often waited for Pansy to take the initiative. This was especially pronounced when Pansy pulled her over to the teacher's desk. Pansy turned around and gazed at Hermione. Her girlfriend was looking around the classroom a little nervously.

"Did it have to be here?" Hermione asked, frowning a little.

"Would you have preferred the Potions classroom?" Pansy asked, raising an eyebrow.

Both of them shook their head at the same time. It was the one place neither of them had the courage to go. Just the thought of Snape catching them there was enough to keep them from ever trying it. In fact, thinking about it was dampening the mood. Well, time for Pansy to change that.

Pansy walked toward Hermione and stopped just inside her girlfriend's personal space. Predictably, Hermione blushed but didn't step back. If they were in some random classroom, Hermione could have just as easily taken the lead here. But at the moment, it was up to Pansy.

"Time for something actually interesting to happen in here." Pansy said mischievously as she pinched the top of Hermione's school robes.

With a smooth motion, Pansy pulled Hermione's robes over her head. Her girlfriend had apparently managed to rehook her bra, but that wasn't what Pansy immediately noticed. It was the fact Hermione wasn't wearing her usual boring white bra. Instead, her girlfriend had on a lacy, emerald green bra that showed her breasts nicely. In fact, it was sexier than anything Pansy had.

"Wow." Pansy said appreciatively.

"So you like it?" Hermione asked with a nervous smile.

"Absolutely, love. Where did you get it?" Pansy asked, fully intending to step up her own game in the future.

"Gladrag's Wizarding Wear. I ordered it from a catalog and had it delivered to their shop in Hogsmeade." Hermione said, a tone of pride entering her voice.

"And Filch didn't want to check the package when you came back?" Pansy asked wonderingly.

"I thought of that. That's why I opened the package and changed in the bathroom of Rosmerta's." Hermione said, once again displaying her talent for foresight.

"What about the bra you were wearing?" Pansy asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Transfigured into an extra plunger." Hermione said, smiling.

Pansy laughed and let her eyes travel downward. In addition to the bra, Hermione was wearing matching emerald green knickers. It was then that Pansy decided that green was most definitely Hermione's color. Why hadn't her girlfriend been in Slytherin? It would have been so much easier to date openly. Well, of course, Pansy knew why.

The few seconds that Pansy had taken to think about this had created a lull. Hermione now stepped in to fill it. Pansy kept herself still as Hermione pulled Pansy's robes over her head. Pansy had been quite proud of the pale pink bra and knickers she had picked for tonight, but they felt just a touch shabby in comparison now. There wasn't any lace on them.

Hermione didn't seem to care, because she kissed Pansy deeply. Pansy kissed her back while fumbling with the delicate clasp on the back of Hermione's new bra. Ordinarily, Pansy would have laughed at the fact that she couldn't seem to unhook it with her fingers after unhooking it with a spell before. But now Pansy just felt a pressing need to move things along. She couldn't speak for Hermione, but her own knickers felt a bit damp.

Finally, Pansy managed to unhook Hermione's bra. Pansy felt Hermione's hands move behind her back to return the favor, and her girlfriend unhooked Pansy's bra with no trouble at all. Probably because she had unhooked this particular bra before. Hermione stepped back, and both of them let their bras slide from their shoulders and fall to the ground.

Pansy spared a glance at Hermione's nipples. Her girlfriend's nipples poked out enticingly. Sometimes, when they had the time, Pansy would while away an hour or so just sucking on Hermione's nipples. Pansy would suck on one for about ten minutes at a time, then alternate to the other one after that, and the whole time, Hermione would be squirming and moaning beneath her.

Just as Pansy decided that might be a good idea, Hermione gently took her shoulders and rotated Pansy so that they had switched positions. Now Pansy was the one with her back to Professor Vector's large oak desk. Pansy opened her mouth to ask Hermione what she was planning, but the question was cut off as Hermione gently but firmly pushed her down so that Pansy was lying face up on the desk in front of her.

This was quite out of the ordinary. Usually Pansy was the one to do this kind of thing. Maybe Hermione's new lingerie was inspiring her. Whatever it was, Pansy liked it.

Pansy saw Hermione's eyes travel downward to her knickers, and gasped as Hermione bent down to lick the wet spot on them. Pansy couldn't help but squirm as Hermione continued to lick the front of her knickers. The wet spot got steadily bigger, both from Hermione's licking and from Pansy's increasing excitement. Hermione paused and gave her a soft smile before sliding Pansy's pink knickers down.

Pansy moaned softly as Hermione bent down to lick her pussy in earnest. It felt amazing to have her girlfriend take control like this. Only the fact that Pansy's knickers were down around her ankles kept her from raising her legs and closing them around Hermione's head. As it was, she could do nothing but lie there, moan and accept the pleasure that her girlfriend was giving her.

Hermione's copious amount of bushy brown hair was obscuring a lot of Pansy's view, but she could only see one of Hermione's arms. The other was down below the desk, and Pansy suspected that Hermione was touching herself as she licked Pansy. That gave Pansy an idea. She tried to remind Hermione of a position she had mentioned but they had never tried. Unfortunately, speaking actual words was getting more difficult as Pansy came closer to climaxing.

"W-we...we...should...oh M-Merlin!" Pansy gasped as she felt Hermione start to swirl her tongue.

Right before Pansy went past the point of no return, Hermione suddenly stopped. Pansy let out a somewhat frustrated noise as she felt her orgasm recede.

"We should what?" Hermione asked, a little breathlessly.

Pansy swallowed the annoyed comment she was going to make about Hermione edging her. Maybe it wasn't intentional.

"We should...you know. What I said that time we were in Greenhouse Five." Pansy said hesitantly.

It wasn't that Pansy was hesitant for herself. She was afraid that Hermione might veto the idea if she came on too strong. But Pansy needn't have worried. Hermione took a second to remember what her girlfriend was talking about before nodding.

Pansy watched as Hermione pulled down her green knickers before climbing up to the teacher's desk. After pushing herself up on the desk with her hands and knees, Hermione carefully repositioned herself until she was above Pansy, only with her body inverted.

Pansy had called this the "69" position. Pansy wasn't sure where she had heard the term, but the meaning was obvious. Hermione bent down once again to start licking her girlfriend's pussy, and only after a few seconds did she spread her legs to lower herself to Pansy's level. Hermione's knees were on either side of Pansy's face, and it was quite an enticing view for Pansy.

She wasted no time in licking Hermione's pussy and was gratified to feel the quiver that went through her girlfriend's body as soon as Pansy's tongue touched her. Pansy felt Hermione's tongue speed up afterward, which caused Pansy's tongue to become more insistent in response.

This position was amazing. It was as if both of them were driving each other to new heights, as each increase in tempo from Pansy caused a similar reaction from Hermione. After only a few minutes, both of them were licking each other's pussies as eagerly as they had ever had.

Since Pansy was already warmed up, she came first. Any cries or moans she might have made were muffled, as Pansy was determined to keep up the pace of her licking even through her orgasm. She succeeded up until it hit her fully. Tiny white stars appeared on the edge of her vision as she squirmed desperately on the table. Hermione had a firm grip on Pansy's thighs though, so she had nowhere to go on the desk. All Pansy could do was lie there and enjoy the explosive feeling of warmth that began in her pussy and traveled all the way through her body.

Pansy came down from her climax just as Hermione was starting to reach hers. Her girlfriend's thighs suddenly closed around Pansy's head, and she took that as the signal to pull out all the stops. Pansy moved her tongue all around Hermione's pussy, but paid special attention to her girlfriend's clit. Hermione's clit only poked out fully when she was truly on the edge of cumming, and that made it quite easy for Pansy to send Hermione over the edge. She simply focused all of her efforts on the amazingly sensitive little nub in front of her.

Hermione shrieked as she came. There was nothing to muffle her voice, and Pansy took a moment to pray that no one was close by in the corridor outside. Hermione simply could not keep herself quiet when she came, and Pansy often had to ball up one of their knickers and use it as a pseudo gag for Hermione if they were in a semi-public place. But Pansy wasn't in any position to do that currently.

All Pansy could do was try to make Hermione's orgasm as long and powerful as she could. Pansy didn't let up one bit as she saw Hermione arch her back above her and shriek again. If someone caught them, so what. There was always Obliviate.

It was more than a minute before Hermione calmed down enough to pull herself away from Pansy's tongue. Her girlfriend rolled onto her side on the desk and curled up, just trying to catch her breath. Pansy pushed herself up on her elbows to get a better look at her. Hermione's face was flushed and her hair was a cloud of frizzy bushiness. Hermione would have probably hated her appearance right now, but Pansy thought she looked more beautiful than ever. She bent down to give her exhausted girlfriend a light kiss, and they both looked into each other's eyes for a moment.

"So, ready for another round?" Pansy asked sarcastically. Neither of them had the energy for another round, not if it was anything like what they just experienced.

"Ha. I better be getting back to the dormitory. Ron and Harry still have their astronomy charts to finish. If I don't help them out, they'll be up all night." Hermione said, shaking her head.

"Yeah, me too. Barely anyone goes to bed before midnight in our dorm, so people might wonder if I show up too late." Pansy said, frowning.

The unspoken issue between them rose like a wall. Both of them wanted to date openly, but neither had the appetite for dealing with the reactions of the people they knew. Pansy had it especially hard, as her entire house would be aghast at the thought of her dating a mudblood.

Hermione opened her mouth to ask something, but just before she did, the door flew open.

* * *

Pansy jerked awake. For a second she wondered how she had traveled away from the Arithmancy classroom to this dark place, but then she remembered. It was only a dream. The most real, most tactile and detailed dream she could remember having, but a dream none the less.

Pansy slid the deep purple hangings around her bed to the side. She was in her personal bedchamber at Hogwarts. Proven pureblood students like her were given the most luxurious rooms in what was once the Slytherin dormitory. The halfbloods in the school made due with their more crowded dorms in what used to be the other Houses. Now everyone was nominally a Slytherin. Of course, some Slytherins were more equal than others.

Was that really a dream though? Pansy could still feel the smoothness of Hermione's lips on her own. But, of course, it was ridiculous. There was no way a mudblood like Hermione could possibly be admitted to Hogwarts. Hermione being a Prefect as well was so unlikely that Pansy would have laughed, except that it wasn't funny at all.

Pansy sighed and fell back on the bed. Unsurprisingly, the hotness of the dream had an effect on her. Her knickers were damp, so Pansy decided she might as well finish herself off. She'd never get back to sleep otherwise.

Pansy picked up her wand and whispered a jinx she had developed over the last year or so. It caused minor vibrations in the air around her hand. This had very useful applications when it came time to touch herself.

As Pansy absently rubbed herself, she recalled more details of the dream. Unlike other dreams she had, the details of this one were slow to fade. In fact, Pansy still remembered the names Hermione had spoken in the dream.

Ron? There was a Weasley in her year named Ron. Pansy had never had any reason to speak to him. So why would her subconscious bring that name up? And Harry. There was no Harry in her year, or any other year. Pansy was fairly certain that no student named Harry had ever attended Hogwarts during her time. Where did her mind get that name from?

Pansy sighed as she felt her orgasm slowly approach. Physically, this was satisfying enough. Emotionally, it did nothing for her. Especially since the memory of her together with Hermione was still fresh in her mind. Pansy found the Hermione that her mind had conjured to be intensely appealing. Her maid would never speak angrily at her, nor would Hermione take the lead like she had in the dream. If only.

Her orgasm washed over Pansy with nothing like the billowing wave of heat that she had experienced in the dream. But it was alright. As Pansy whispered the counterjinx to the spell for her hand, she decided to remind Hermione of her presence.

Right before Pansy had left for Hogwarts, she had cast a spell on the tattoo of the Parkinson family crest that had been applied to the lower back of her maid. She had cast the same spell on a small silver emblem that showed the same crest, and tested it out repeatedly to make sure it worked right.

Every time she cast the spell on the emblem, it would heat up. This would cause the tattoo on Hermione's lower back to heat up as well. It took some tinkering, as well as some sacrifice on Hermione's part before Pansy got it just right. But in the end, Pansy could make the tattoo heat up with a gentle warmth. It was supposed to be a sign to her maid that Pansy was thinking about her, even from as far away as Hogwarts.

Pansy whispered the spell on the emblem and imagined Hermione's eyes opening at the sudden sensation. It was a bit selfish of her to wake up Hermione, but Pansy knew her maid wouldn't mind.

It was the nearest thing Pansy had to touching Hermione, and that fact made her tear up a little bit before Pansy blinked the tears away. Pansy pulled the hangings closed around her bed and curled up beneath the covers, wishing she had Hermione next to her.


	6. A sunlit dream

Pansy had spent the last few days searching for an answer to her recent dreams. Every night for the past week, she had dreamt of some kind of alternate Hogwarts where Pansy and Hermione were together. Everything was different. Mudbloods were allowed to attend, and in fact, the word mudblood was actually considered to be a slur. None of the teachers were Death Eaters (with the odd exception of Snape, who was the Dark Arts teacher in reality and the Potions teacher in the dream world) and the Headmaster was not the soon-to-be-retired Professor Slughorn. Instead, it was Professor Dumbledore. Dumbledore, who in reality had died a year before Pansy was born. Rumor had it that he had been betrayed and murdered by Snape.

The Dark Lord existed, here and there. But while the Dark Lord ruled the country uncontested in reality, in the dream world, the Dark Lord was in hiding with his followers. It was the most unrealistic part of the dream, honestly. The idea that there were people that the Dark Lord could not crush with ease was mind-boggling to Pansy, who had no memories of a wizarding world that wasn't in his grip.

But, of course, the most striking difference for Pansy was the change in Hermione. The dream Hermione was not quiet or reserved. She didn't tend to avoid looking people in the eye, as the real Hermione did. Instead, the dream Hermione talked quite a bit, and did so confidently. She had strong opinions about everything from Quidditch, a sport far more popular in the dream world that Pansy could ever remember it being, to the laughable idea of "elf rights". Purebloods like Pansy had many privileges, but nobody had "rights" under the Dark Lord's rule, least of all house elves. The dream Hermione could sometimes test her patience, as Pansy was used to getting her own way on most things. Criticism was an unusual thing for Pansy to hear directed at her, least of all from her maid. But it had to be said that the occasional antagonism between them made for fantastic make-up sex.

But then, other things about the dream Hermione matched with the Hermione she knew. The dream Hermione had the same kindness, the same cleverness, and she most certainly had the same love for books. Pansy had spent hours in the dream world sitting next to Hermione in the library, pretending to be absorbed in a book, but really just enjoying the feeling of being close to the dream version of her maid. It was a very peaceful way to spend time there.

It would be strange for a single dream to have this kind of detail, but it was completely bizarre that the details were entirely consistent every night. They weren't just dreams, Pansy was sure of it. But what was the cause? At first, she had suspected the silver emblem with the Parkinson family crest she carried with her.

Pansy had found it in the attic among other dusty items stored there. She didn't have any proof either way that it was enchanted. But after several futile attempts to reveal any enchantments that it may have contained, she was forced to think of something else. It might still be the emblem, but there was no way to demonstrate that it was.

The only place Pansy could think of to find answers was the library. Pansy had already spent quite a bit of her free time there already, pulling down books about dreams. None of them were helpful, unfortunately. The books all had to do with normal dreams. There didn't seem to be anything that accurately described what Pansy was experiencing. But she hadn't tried the Restricted Section yet.

Pansy walked into the library shortly before curfew. As Head Girl, Pansy did not need to ask Madam Pince for permission to use the Restricted Section. She browsed through the shelves, shuddering periodically as she read some of the more gruesome titles. A few did seem to deal with dreams, however, and Pansy eagerly pulled them off the shelf.

Pansy took them over to a free desk and started to read. This was really a task better suited to her maid. The archaic writing was difficult for Pansy to parse. A half-hour passed very slowly as Pansy turned the pages of the black tomes in front of her, the first one titled "Nightmares into Reality". Her eyes were tired from reading the tiny print, and she longed to simply pass it to her maid and have Hermione summarize it for her. But of course, Hermione was not there to help her.

The book seemed to deal with using Legilimency to figure out the nighttime fears of your enemies and to try to use that knowledge against them. Sort of like a Boggart, Pansy supposed. That wasn't any help. She laid the book down and picked up the next one, titled "The Infinite Dream". Pansy was about to open it when she saw Madam Pince turning off the lamps around her. Pansy took the hint and returned the books to the shelves of the Restricted Section. She could check them out, of course, but what was the point? She could read them some other time.

Pansy headed back to her bedchamber in the dungeons. She passed no students on the way, as many of them believed in the completely false rumor that Fenrir Greyback lurked around the castle at night, looking to bite and turn any student he found out-of-bounds. A rumor bolstered by the howls heard from the castle grounds at night. As Head Girl though, Pansy was privy to the knowledge that the howls were Caterwauling Charms cast by Alecto Carrow, the Muggle Studies Professor, as an easy way to scare students into obedience.

The entrance to the dungeons was a stretch of blank stone wall near the Entrance hall. The password, "Pure-blood", was a puerile choice that had less to do with security and more to do with increasing the self-satisfaction of anyone who used it. The real security was thought to be in the passage beyond, which Salazar Slytherin himself had enchanted to prevent mudbloods from entering. Supposedly, anyone without magical parentage would find the passage growing smaller and more narrow the further they went until the passageway was so tiny as to prevent them from going any further. Pansy had her doubts as to whether the story was true, and in any case, the passage never altered its size.

Daphne Greengrass and Lavender Brown were talking and laughing at the fireplace in the middle of the common room. Pansy walked right past them and the other two girls similarly ignored her. Recently, Pansy had found that she couldn't stand the complacency and ignorance the other two pureblood girls showed about the wizarding world and had told them so. It caused a certain amount of frostiness in the common room, but as Pansy was Head Girl, she had little to fear. In truth, what Pansy most disliked about Daphne and Lavender was the way they reminded her that if Pansy had never met Hermione, she would probably be just like them.

Pansy's spacious bedchamber was a welcome refuge from the rest of the castle. Pansy made certain to cast the Colloportus spell upon her door despite the fact that it would be easily countered by a simple unlocking spell. Why did she do it then? Because it made her feel a little safer regardless. Pansy took off her school robes and put on her dressing gown. At home, Pansy preferred to sleep naked with her maid in her large, silk-canopied bed. But trying to sleep naked here made her feel too vulnerable.

Pansy pulled the hangings around her bed and burrowed beneath the covers. It wasn't always easy to fall asleep here. Especially since Pansy had become rather dependant on the warm presence of her maid beside her during the summer. Not for the first time, Pansy thought about brewing a Sleeping Draught for herself. She rejected the idea, though. It might interfere with her new dreams.

The sudden sunlight streaming down on Pansy made her blink rapidly. Going so quickly from the darkness of her bedchamber to somewhere outdoors was disorienting. After squinting with her eyes for a few seconds, Pansy determined that she was sitting on the grass with bushes on all sides of her. Hermione was next to her, as she always was in these dreams.

* * *

"Is something wrong?" Hermione asked her, looking up from the textbook she had been pouring over.

"No, nothing." Pansy said quickly, shaking her head.

It was only in the last few dreams that Pansy got some measure of control over herself. Although, maybe that wasn't the right way to think about it. Pansy had always been in control of her actions, but previously, she was like a different version of herself. Somewhat bitchier, a little more frivolous, and a lot more hostile to people that she didn't like. And honestly, Pansy understood why people might not like this version of her. The real surprise was that Hermione did like her.

Excited voices drifted through the bushes around them. They belonged to other students, and suddenly Pansy understood where they were. They were hidden among the bushes on the grounds near the lake. The grounds were not a popular spot in Pansy's world. There was no gamekeeper to maintain them.

Pansy took a moment to glance at the items on the grass. Her Transfiguration textbook was open on the ground in front of her. That meant she had been in the middle of studying. Hmmm. Studying for a Transfiguration exam that she was unlikely to have to take herself, or toying with her girlfriend? It didn't take long to decide.

Pansy reached over to stroke Hermione's wonderfully bushy hair. Hermione gave her a brief look before returning her attention to her textbook. Pansy was used to dueling with a book for Hermione's attention, so she didn't mind. Pansy simply had to show that she could be far more interesting.

Pansy casually brushed Hermione's hair away from her neck before leaning in to plant a soft kiss on the sensitive spot there, just below her ear. That got her Hermione's attention.

"Not here! There's too many people around." Hermione said, her eyes widening.

"If you didn't want me to kiss you, you shouldn't have looked so beautiful in the sunlight." Pansy said, smiling at her.

Hermione rolled her eyes, but the blush that entered her cheeks told Pansy that the compliment had hit home. Pansy quickly took that opening to kiss her girlfriend again, this time on her lips. And to try to forestall any vocal apprehension, Pansy didn't stop kissing her. When Pansy reached for the top of Hermione's robes, fully intending to pull them off, her girlfriend broke off the kiss.

"Come on! We can't!" Hermione said, a touch breathlessly.

"What if I were to promise that I could give you the best orgasm of your life, right here?" Pansy asked in a teasing tone, looking her girlfriend in the eye.

Hermione didn't answer for a moment. She took a few seconds to glance around, maybe just to convince herself that they really were completely hidden by the bushes. Hermione then looked back at Pansy, who was still gazing at her expectantly. Pansy, who had been waiting on pins and needles, was gratified to see Hermione give her a small nod.

"Okay. But if it sounds like anyone is coming, you stop right away, alright?" Hermione said, sounding as if she was deciding to trust Pansy against her better judgment.

"Of course, love." Pansy said, already leaning forward to kiss Hermione again.

Hermione accepted the kiss and kept still as Pansy lifted her school robes over her head. Pansy glanced down to see what Hermione was wearing and did a slight double-take. This time, her girlfriend was wearing a lacy violet bra.

"Where did you get that?" Pansy couldn't help but ask.

"Gladrags, like last time. I mean, you liked the first one so much..." Hermione said, trailing off with a worried look.

"I did. And you look amazing! But it must have cost a few Galleons." Pansy said, honestly wondering where Hermione got the money to pay for it.

"It wasn't cheap, no. I had to use some of the money my parents gave me over the summer. I don't think they expected me to use it for this, though." Hermione finished, smiling ruefully at Pansy.

"Well, I appreciate it very much." Pansy said sincerely as she leaned forward to gently push Hermione down on her back.

Pansy gazed down at the very appealing sight of Hermione on the grass in her violet bra and, Pansy saw, glancing down, violet knickers. Pansy briefly wondered whether she had bothered to buy anything more interesting herself and wouldn't be surprised if this Pansy hadn't remembered to do so. Hermione let out a small gasp when Pansy removed her knickers. Her girlfriend's vocalization was a problem here, and Pansy had just the solution. She pulled out her wand and pointed it at Hermione.

"We can't have you letting everyone outside the castle know what's happening here, love. Sorry, but this has to be done. 'Silencio'!" Pansy whispering, pointing her wand directly at Hermione's mouth.

"Wh-?" Hermione started to ask, only for her words to be cut off.

Even though Hermione continued to talk, with some anger evident in her expression, no sound came out. Pansy bit her lip to stop herself from laughing. Hermione, whose eyes flashed at seeing Pansy's amusement, reached for her wand. But it was bundled into her clothes. Hermione may have simply wanted to use the nonverbal countercharm and give Pansy a piece of her mind, or she may have been more revenge-minded. Either way, Pansy was glad that she happened to leave Hermione's bundle of robes just outside of her girlfriend's reach.

Pansy settled herself down between Hermione's legs. She hooked her arms around her girlfriend's thighs and pulled Hermione closer to her. In both this world and the waking world, Pansy knew Hermione would climax harder if she felt somewhat helpless, so Pansy lifted Hermione's hips off the ground a few inches before starting to lick her pussy.

Despite Hermione's previous protests, her girlfriend's excitement was quite evident. Hermione's clit was already poking out slightly, but Pansy ignored it in favor of slowly licking her girlfriend's already-wet pussy. Pansy wasn't going to let Hermione off the hook that easily.

The silence from Hermione was definitely a change of pace. Pansy glanced up to see Hermione was already starting to pant and moan, but the Silencio charm continued to prevent any sound from coming out. In the absence of Hermione's usual vocalizations, the noise from around them seemed magnified.

It sounded like plenty of students were hanging out on the grounds. Some of whom were not far away. Pansy heard random squishes, followed by laughs, from a short distance away. That was probably the Gobstones Club having taken their kits outside. Pansy couldn't help but be amused at the thought of what those club members would do if they could see what was going on in the bushes near them.

Hermione was starting to writhe on the grass. Pansy, who had been buffeted slightly by Hermione's legs around her head, got a firmer grip on Hermione's thighs while raising her off the ground by a few more inches.

Suddenly, both of them could hear the sound of some other girls walking close by. They seemed to have settled on the ground only 20 feet away. Pansy could see Hermione's eyes fly open, and Pansy saw panic there combined with a kind of desperation, both of which seemed to increase as she understood that Pansy had no intention of stopping. Pansy decided that the time had come to start teasing her girlfriend's clit, and looking up, she saw Hermione's mouth open in a surprised but entirely silent gasp when Pansy's tongue first made contact. Hermione's writhing increased substantially as Pansy gently swirled her tongue around the sides of her clit.

Pansy knew that Hermione was poised on the edge of cumming. If she gave Hermione's clit the full attention of her tongue, Hermione would easily be pushed over the edge. So Pansy didn't. Instead, she continued to only tease Hermione's clit, preferring to keep this going as long as she could.

"Clement sent me another letter. I can't believe he's still writing to me!" came the voice of an excited girl, who Pansy thought might have been one of the Patil twins.

"Of course he did! Like he could ever forget the sight of you at the Yule Ball." came the far more familiar voice of Lavender Brown.

Pansy was momentarily distracted by wondering why Lavender, who was a pureblood, was friends with one of the Patils, who were halfblood. In her world, Lavender was among the girls who flaunted her Blood Status the most. But seeing Hermione raise her head again to give Pansy what looked like simple pleading was enough to return her attention to her girlfriend.

Pansy decided that Hermione had "suffered" enough. She prepared herself by getting a more secure grip on Hermione's thighs before starting to suck forcefully on Hermione's clit. As she expected, Hermione bucked her hips at the suddenly fierce sucking.

The sight of Hermione arching her back was enough to herald her climax. Hermione opened her mouth to shriek, but thankfully, the Silencio charm held. Otherwise, Pansy thought that her girlfriend would probably be announcing her orgasm to everyone outside the castle, as well as anyone inside who was near a window.

Hermione's climax lasted for more than a minute, helped along by Pansy's insistent tongue. Pansy had perhaps recklessly promised the best orgasm of Hermione's life, but unless she missed her guess, she had delivered. Hermione, who needed several minutes to recover, finally opened her eyes again to peer blearily at Pansy. Pansy picked up her wand from the ground and whispered the Silencio countercharm.

"I'm going to kill you." Hermione whispered tiredly.

"Let me get your clothes back on first, then. You don't want to be arrested without your knickers on." Pansy said, smiling as she gathered up Hermione's pile of robes.

The fact that Hermione let Pansy slide her violet knickers back on without complaint was a good sign. Her girlfriend let Pansy gently raise her into a sitting position, and then Pansy slipped Hermione's school robes over her head. As Hermione struggled to put her arms through her robes, Pansy swallowed the slight sense of unease she had before holding Hermione's wand out to her. Thankfully, her girlfriend only gave her a half-hearted scowl before stowing her wand in her robes.

"I'm supposed to be able to conjure songbirds tomorrow in Transfiguration. If I fail, I really will kill you." Hermione said, grabbing her books off the ground and returning them to her backpack.

"I have complete faith in you, love." Pansy said, quite sincerely.

Hermione finished gathering her various possessions before putting her backpack on her shoulder. Pansy didn't bother to do the same yet. They couldn't leave the bushes together, for obvious reasons. Hermione would exit first. As her girlfriend turned to leave, Pansy was suddenly seized with the impulse to ask her a question.

"Wait. What do you know about strange dreams?" Pansy asked, feeling distinctly odd about asking Hermione this while she herself was in a dream.

"What do you mean?" Hermione said quizzically.

"I mean...nothing. Forget I asked." Pansy said quickly. How could she explain it without sounding crazy?

Hermione looked at her with some concern, but as Pansy said nothing more, she apparently decided to drop it as well. As Hermione turned and pushed her way through the bushes, Pansy gathered up her textbooks from the ground. She didn't make much progress, however, as the next thing Pansy knew, she had awoken in her bed.


	7. Realizations

Pansy had reached a dead end with her efforts to uncover anything about the dreams when she was awake. The only thing left to do was ask Hermione for help. But Pansy couldn't really tell her the truth. Hermione would never believe this was a dream, and Pansy had no way to prove to her that she only experienced this world when she slept.

Instead, she made it sound to Hermione like Pansy's waking reality was the dream. It seemed like the easiest way for Hermione to believe her, but Pansy had already begun to regret it. Pansy had to keep the world she had spent the first 17 years of her life as reality in her mind. If she started to forget that fact, Pansy feared that it wouldn't long before she was carted off to St. Mungos.

After Pansy told Hermione that she was having recurring dreams about an alternate Hogwarts, Hermione became keen to hear more. So far, Pansy had been vague on the details of the "dream". Hermione was unlikely to be pleased with hearing them, so Pansy had decided to invite her to the Prefect's Bathroom late after curfew. It was Saturday night, which meant they had no classes tomorrow. That was the only reason why Hermione agreed to meet her so late.

Pansy wanted her girlfriend to be as relaxed as possible before she started filling Hermione in. So Pansy had arrived half an hour earlier to get ready. She had filled the huge sunken bath in the middle of the room with hot water, foam, and the tiny violet jasmine-scented bubbles that she knew Hermione liked. Pansy then waited for a knock on the door. The door handle on the outside would vanish whenever someone was using the bath in order to protect the privacy of the person using it. That meant that Pansy had to let Hermione in, but it also meant that they were guaranteed not to be disturbed after Pansy closed the bathroom door.

"You've been busy." Hermione said to Pansy as soon as she entered, looking at the bath filled to the brim with hot water and bubbles.

"You seem a little tired lately. This might help you relax." Pansy said with a warm smile.

"Am I to believe that you want me to take my clothes off so I can relax?" Hermione asked Pansy shrewdly.

"Absolutely!" Pansy said, with her best impression of innocence.

Pansy quickly stripped her clothes off, with Hermione following suit somewhat more hesitantly. While Hermione was busy placing her clothes into a carefully folded pile near the side of the bath, Pansy had jumped right in. The water felt wonderful enough to make Pansy temporarily forget that she had a plan. Skinny dipping in a small pool filled with bubbles would do that. Pansy treaded water for a while, waiting for Hermione to enter the bath. This Hermione wasn't nearly as shy about her body as her maid was. Even when Hermione noticed that Pansy was looking at her, she didn't stiffen or redden. Instead, Hermione simply walked to the edge of the bath and gingerly lowered herself in.

Hermione immediately closed her eyes in satisfaction. Pansy swam over to her and saw Hermione open her eyes at the sound. Her girlfriend's rueful look indicated that she had been expecting Pansy to start toying with her. But Pansy had other ideas in mind. She held up a large white sponge that had been well-camouflaged within the bubbles.

"Turn around and put your arms over the sides." Pansy said, lathering up the sponge.

"I can wash myself." Hermione said, though she turned around and did as Pansy asked.

"I know, but it's fun to have someone else do the work for you sometimes." Pansy said, moving Hermione's hair out of the way as much as she could before running the sponge over her bare shoulders.

"Oh? And you would know?" Hermione asked, turning her head slightly to look at Pansy out of the corner of her eye.

Pansy thought fast. She could claim she had simply misspoken. But Hermione had a good sense of when Pansy was lying, and she didn't want to give Hermione the impression that she was fooling around with anyone else. The truth was the best option here. Or as close to the truth as Pansy could say.

"If you must know...I was talking about the dreams I've been having." Pansy said, wringing out the sponge so that the warm water dripped down Hermione's back.

"Oh. You haven't really told me what those are about yet." Hermione said, closing her eyes once more.

"Well, like I said before, everything in them is different. Except for the fact that we're still together." Pansy said, choosing her words carefully.

"That's good. But when you say everything's different, what do you mean?" Hermione said, her eyes still closed.

"Well, the D, I mean, He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named is in charge everywhere." Pansy said, remembering that only Death Eaters used that title here.

"That sounds awful. What about Dumbledore?" Hermione said, a slight frown creasing her brow.

"I'm not sure." Pansy said evasively, not wanting turn the conversation to such dark matters.

"But in your dream, if You-Know-Who is in charge, what happens to the muggleborns?" Hermione asked, shifting herself slightly.

"Well, there aren't any at Hogwarts." Pansy said uncomfortably.

"None? What about me?" Hermione asked, a frown definitely starting to appear on her face.

"You're safe. You're at my manor." Pansy said as she spread more water over Hermione's back, trying to keep her relaxed.

"Why would I be there?" Hermione asked, opening one eye to look at Pansy.

"You're there because, well. Because in the dream, you're my maid." Pansy finished, preparing herself for a possible explosion.

"I'm what?" Hermione asked, opening both eyes to look indignantly at Pansy.

Pansy had no answer, so she simply continued to run the sponge over Hermione's back. She didn't expect Hermione, this Hermione, to understand the dire circumstances that mudbloods faced in Pansy's reality. At least the ones that didn't have a secure place serving a pureblood family. The real Hermione's present position, as a beloved maid to a pureblood of the same age, particularly one that was set to inherit their family's fortune, was as good as it could get for them.

"Is that what your subconscious thinks of me, as some kind of servant?" Hermione asked, her voice becoming more nettled.

"Of course not! How could I think that?" Pansy said soothingly, trying not to think about the fact that until very recently, Pansy had indeed thought that.

"Oh I see, is the idea of having me at your beck and call, curtsying everywhere, fun for you?" Hermione asked in a waspish voice, her eyes narrowing.

Yes, Pansy would have answered, if she was being honest. Hermione seemed pricklier about this than Pansy had expected. But maybe she should have been expecting it. Even in this much more equitable dream world, mudbloods received their share of taunts and ridicule about not deserving to go to Hogwarts. It can't have been easy for Hermione to have dealt with that all this time.

"No, it isn't." Pansy answered instead, trying to keep a lid on Hermione's anger.

Hermione looked into Pansy's eyes for a long moment. Then she sighed and turned her head away. As the seconds passed in silence, Pansy knew she was in trouble. Her girlfriend's anger was quick to fade, but silence and distance indicated disappointment. That was harder to fix.

"I'm sorry, love." Pansy said quietly, trying to get Hermione to engage with her again.

"You don't need to say you're sorry. I know you can't control your dreams. I just thought..." Hermione said, trailing off as she continued to look away.

"You thought what?" Pansy supplied gently, washing Hermione's shoulders again.

"I thought you didn't care about that pureblood stuff." Hermione said, turning her head back to look at Pansy.

"I don't! It's just..." Pansy said, trailing off as she struggled to come up with something that this Hermione would understand.

It wasn't a question of caring. Nobody could ignore Blood Status in Pansy's world. Not when wizarding society was explicitly organized around the concept. It determined what people could do and not do. It was a central and immutable fact of life. Maybe some of the adults who had grown up before The Dark Lord had taken control didn't accept it, but younger people that were Pansy's age had never known anything else.

Even when, as in Pansy's case, a pureblood thought it was wrong, they didn't know what other system could take its place. If Blood Status was no longer there to determine what position people had in society, then they could theoretically do anything. Everyone being able to do whatever they wanted to seemed unworkable. It sounded like complete chaos. Except that the dream world Pansy was in didn't seem at all like chaos.

"It's just what?" Hermione asked coolly.

"It's nothing. I don't care about that. You know I don't." Pansy said, emphasizing her statement with a soft kiss on Hermione's bare shoulder.

Hermione said nothing, but neither did she do anything to discourage Pansy. So Pansy continued to reassure her by kissing different parts of her back, getting closer to Hermione's neck. As Pansy kissed her girlfriend's neck, it seemed to Pansy like it was lacking something. It took Pansy a few seconds to realize why. It was the silver choker that Pansy had given her maid. The choker had been sized to fit Hermione's neck perfectly, and was joined together at the front with two halves of a snake's head. The brilliant emeralds that had been set in the eyes of the snake had cost hundreds of Galleons by themselves. It had been a wildly extravagant present to give to a mudblood, but the price had been no object to Pansy when she had eagerly commissioned it from a jeweler in Knockturn Alley.

The jeweler had asked if Pansy had wanted any enchantments laid into it. The jeweler, an elderly Prewett, said that he had the ability to enchant the choker with a Detection spell that would enable the wearer to be tracked, as well as enchant the emeralds to flash brightly if the wearer told a lie. Pansy briefly considered it, but ultimately said no. Hermione wouldn't try to leave, and she never lied. The only enchantment she wanted to add was one that would keep the choker warm against her maid's skin.

Pansy was a little saddened that the choker was not adorning Hermione's neck. Then she couldn't help but wonder what her maid thought about it. After all, Pansy hadn't actually asked Hermione if she wanted to wear the snake choker. She simply presented it to her maid and put it on Hermione's neck straightaway. Pansy shifted uncomfortably as she realized that getting Hermione's opinion on wearing it had never entered her mind before.

This eye-opening realization made Pansy look downward toward Hermione's lower back. Specifically, to the lack of any tattoo there. The Parkinson family crest was not represented in detail on Hermione's lower back. Its absence was disquieting for Pansy, who, in the past, had always felt better when she saw it on Hermione. Even more than the choker, it indicated that Hermione was something of a possession of hers. A treasured and much-loved possession, but a possession nonetheless.

"Is everything okay?" Hermione asked Pansy, pulling her from her thoughts.

Pansy realized that she had stopped kissing Hermione's neck. Hermione, who Pansy had been trying to reassure, was now looking at her curiously. Pansy snapped out of it. She had plenty of time to think about these things during the long hours when she was awake. For now, Pansy had Hermione naked, right in front of her. Why was she wasting this opportunity?

"Turn around." Pansy said simply, fetching the sponge once again.

Hermione turned around in the water to face Pansy, and Pansy wasted no time in kissing her on the lips. This wasn't like the soft kisses Pansy had been laying on Hermione's neck. It was rougher and more insistent. Hermione seemed surprised at how quickly Pansy had changed gears, judging from how wide her girlfriend's eyes were. But Hermione opened her lips readily enough to accept Pansy's tongue in the exact same way that her maid did. Pansy spent a few minutes just kissing Hermione deeply, thinking that, really, any moment that wasn't being spent kissing her girlfriend like this was rather wasted.

Pansy pushed Hermione right to the edge of the bath and held her up against the side. She then reached down through the water to press the sponge she was holding right up against Hermione's pussy. Hermione, whose eyes had been shut for the last few minutes, suddenly opened them. Pansy felt Hermione close her legs around the sponge, and Pansy was quick to oblige her girlfriend. She moved the sponge up and down, keeping it pressed against Hermione's pussy.

Hermione started to squirm in her grasp, but Pansy had left her no room to escape. Hermione's clit was extremely sensitive, and Pansy knew that the underwater friction of the sponge against it was driving her girlfriend wild. Pansy sped up the motion of her hand, enjoying the way that Hermione kissed her harder as she got closer to climaxing.

Hermione was starting to arch her back against the side of the bath. This was a very reliable way for Pansy to know that she was orgasming, if she couldn't tell from the muffled noises that Hermione was unconsciously making. This would normally be where Hermione would start to shriek loudly, but Pansy wasn't sure that the room was soundproof. So Pansy kept her lips on Hermione's, muffling the sound while she rubbed the sponge as forcefully as she could against Hermione's pussy.

After almost a minute, Hermione stopped writhing in her grasp and sagged in the water. Pansy quickly held her up, fearing that Hermione would sink below the surface if she didn't.

"I knew you were going to do this." Hermione said as soon as she had recovered enough to speak.

"It's true. Would it help if I said I was sorry?" Pansy offered, with a note of completely false contrition.

"You're not sorry." Hermione said, a hint of a smile on her face.

"No, I'm not." Pansy said, smiling back.

Pansy helped Hermione climb out of the bath and retrieved a few towels for them to use. Pansy, with her short bobbed hair, only needed one towel to dry off. But Hermione's hair was not so easy to take care of. Pansy ended up helping Hermione dry her hair with an extra towel while her girlfriend dried off the rest of her body.

"I'll check the library for any books that mention strange dreams." Hermione offered, her voice somewhat muffled by the towel Pansy was rubbing her hair dry with.

"You don't need to bother yourself. You've got exams coming up." Pansy said, feeling somewhat guilty at the thought of adding to Hermione's already busy schedule.

"It's no trouble. And I want to help you." Hermione said, dropping her towel as she finished drying herself.

"In that case, I'm happy to accept, love." Pansy said, pulling the towel off of Hermione's head and marveling at the sheer frizziness of her hair.

"We should drain the bath and hang up the towels. I don't want the house elves to have to clean up after us." Hermione said thoughtfully.

Pansy nodded, pretending she shared in Hermione's passion for the downtrodden. Who knows, maybe in a few years, Pansy actually would start to care about house elves. Her attitude toward what wizarding society said were her "lessers" had certainly altered ever since Hermione had entered her life.

Pansy gathered up the towels while Hermione went over to the taps. As Hermione turned the tap that unblocked the drain, Pansy looked at the empty spot on her lower back. Pansy had decided that as soon as she returned to the real Hermione on Christmas Break, she would remove the tattoo. If Hermione wanted her to, that is.

* * *

The softly chiming bell of the clock on the wall of her bedchamber went off, pulling Pansy from her dream. Pansy groaned and wanted to pull the covers over her head to muffle the sound, but it was useless. Pansy had such a hard time getting up without her maid there to coax her out of bed that she had specifically bought this alarm clock to do it instead. The chimes were soft and melodic to start with, but they became louder and more obnoxious the longer Pansy stayed under the covers. Pansy pulled the hangings aside and wrapped a blanket around her as she got off the bed, knowing that her alarm clock would start to sound like a church bell being rung if she didn't.

It was the beginning of December in the real world. Christmas Break was quickly approaching, and that meant that Pansy had some decisions to make. Over the last few days, Pansy had decided to take some action in regards to her maid's magical education. If she didn't, nobody else would.

Pansy dropped the blanket on the floor as she went over to her personal bathroom. It had nothing approaching the luxuriousness of her bathroom at home, and was even further away from the elegance of the Prefect's Bathroom. But Pansy couldn't complain. Most of the students here had to share them, and this was her's alone.

As for the blanket, well, some house elf would pick it up for her when Pansy's bedchamber was cleaned. Pansy still wasn't sold on the idea that house elves were mistreated, considering that every indication was that they loved their jobs at Hogwarts. But the fact that she was thinking about it anyway was progress, Pansy supposed. As Pansy went to the sink to brush her teeth, the question that had been percolating in the back of her mind for days came to the forefront.

Where would she get a wand for Hermione?


	8. Requirements

Pansy climbed the Astronomy Tower, wondering why Hermione wanted to meet there. It wasn't a place that Pansy would have chosen, considering that she had never been up there before. Astronomy was not an elective, which meant Pansy had to take it, but that didn't mean she needed to climb up this ridiculously tall tower along with the other students.

When Pansy was a first-year and far more spoiled than she was now, she had demanded that her parents buy her the large, working model of the solar system in a glass ball sold by Wiseacre's Wizarding Equipment in Diagon Alley. After a number of what Pansy called "arguments" and what her parents called "tantrums", they relented. Which meant that all Pansy needed to do to pass Astronomy was to use the huge glass ball in her bedchamber to examine the solar system. It was certainly convenient, but now Pansy had to wince at the thought of how lazy and entitled she was at that age.

And she was paying for it now. Pansy stopped to take a break halfway up the tower, breathing a touch heavily and wondering how students were able to do this all the time. Pansy could hear the sound of groaning and clanking overhead. It was a few seconds before she remembered that the Astronomy Tower was a favorite haunt of the Bloody Baron. The Baron was not her favorite ghost, despite his association with Slytherin.

Pansy continued her climb, giving the Bloody Baron a wide berth as she passed him up the stairs. She paused for a few moments to collect herself before opening the door. It was petty, but Pansy didn't want Hermione to see her out of breath, especially if Hermione was able to climb these stairs with ease. After catching her breath, Pansy opened the door to the Astronomy Tower, only to find an empty room.

Pansy looked around the darkened chamber filled with telescopes and geometric instruments. Pansy briefly wondered if she had somehow misunderstood her girlfriend, but then the door at the far end of the chamber opened. Hermione poked her head out of the open door.

"Out here!" Hermione said brightly before leaving the door open for Pansy to follow her.

Pansy quickly crossed the room, wondering what Hermione was thinking. Unless Pansy was mistaken, that door led to the balcony outside of the Astronomy Tower. Just as it was in this world and in Pansy's, it was the day before Christmas Break and it had to be freezing out there.

Pansy opened the door to see Hermione sitting on the ground on the balcony with a large, heavy blanket wrapped around her. She was using her wand to create a bonfire of blue flames several feet in front of her. Pansy watched as the flames went from tiny, dancing flickers to a crackling fire.

Hermione gave the fire a satisfied nod before stowing her wand away. She turned to look at Pansy, smiled and opened the blanket around her. Pansy gladly accepted the invitation and sat down alongside Hermione, pulling the heavy blanket closed around them both. There was no wind, but this high up, the air was even more frigid than on the ground. The blue fire that Hermione had conjured helped to warm the air around them directly around it, however. Despite the temperature, Pansy felt quite snug next to her girlfriend. The blanket did a very good job at keeping the chill out, and their combined body heat warmed the inside of it quickly. Hermione rummaged beneath the blanket for a moment before pulling out several bottles of what looked like butterbeer.

"How have you been carrying those?" Pansy asked, her eyebrows rising as she took one.

"Undetectable Extension Charm. It was tricky, but I think I got it right." Hermione said, looking down at the beaded bag in her lap.

Pansy stared for a moment, marveling at Hermione's skill. In Pansy's world, she had bought a very beautiful purse from Twilfitt and Tatting's that had the same charm on it and had paid a hefty number of Galleons to do so. The saleswoman there had told her that it was desperately difficult to put an Undetectable Extension Charm on such a small item, and that only one of the owners, Gerald Tatting, was able to pull it off. Maybe the saleswoman had been exaggerating, but still, Pansy was very impressed.

"You're amazing. You know that, love?" Pansy asked Hermione, taking a sip of butterbeer.

Hermione blushed and shook her head in the way Pansy had been expecting. Hermione loved to be praised about her spellwork, but she was keen not to appear to take too much pleasure in it. Possibly because of her classmates repeatedly calling her a know-it-all. Pansy wasn't fooled, however, and decided to make certain Hermione knew how impressed she really was.

"I mean it! The fire is brilliant too. Have we even studied how to do that in class?" Pansy asked, drinking a bit more of the warming butterbeer.

"You'd know if you paid more attention. But no, it's just something I read in a book. It was my turn to come up with something fun after you went to all that work to set up the Prefect's Bathroom for us." Hermione said, taking a small tip of her own butterbeer.

"I turned the handle on a couple of taps. I didn't cast N.E.W.T. level spells to set it up. I just want you to know, I think you did a wonderful job here." Pansy said, leaning over to kiss Hermione on the cheek.

Hermione blazed scarlet, but she shook her head again.

"Actually, I did all of this because I felt a little bad. I looked up everything I could think of in the library, but I couldn't find anything that sounded like the dreams you were talking about." Hermione said, sighing.

"It's okay. I wasn't really expecting anything from the library." Pansy said truthfully, considering that she had already gone through every book dealing even tangentially with dreams in her own world.

Hermione frowned at this slighting of the library, but she said nothing. Pansy drained the last of the butterbeer from her bottle and set it down on the ground. Figuring out the cause of the dreams was no longer her chief concern. The answer would present itself in time, or it wouldn't. Now Pansy had a much more pressing concern.

"I have another question, though. Do you know where I could find a wand?" Pansy asked Hermione intently.

"Why? What's wrong with yours?" Hermione asked curiously.

"Nothing's wrong with it. I just need a spare." Pansy said as casually as she could.

Hermione was silent for a moment. Pansy knew her attempt to play down the wand's significance had not been very successful. She also knew that Hermione might be a little hurt that Pansy wasn't sharing exactly why she needed it, but what could Pansy do? Explaining her real need for the wand might make Hermione doubt her sanity.

"Well, have you tried writing to Ollivanders?" Hermione said, after a lengthy pause.

"Let's say that's not an option here." Pansy responded, an apologetic look on her face.

It definitely wasn't an option in Pansy's world. Although Ollivanders was where Pansy had received her wand at the young age of 7, asking for another one was impossible. Wands were tightly controlled and could only be legally bought with a permit from the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. Pansy could still remember her father handing over a letter signed by Minister Yaxley himself before Ollivander would consent to open up his shop to them.

"Hmm. I suppose you could try the Room of Requirement." Hermione offered.

"The Room of...what?" Pansy asked blankly.

"You know, the Room of Requirement. You tipped me off that Umbridge was coming for everyone in the D.A. last year. We might have gotten expelled if you didn't." Hermione said, looking at Pansy gratefully.

"Right. But how do I get into it myself?" Pansy asked, trying to cover for the fact that in addition to not knowing what the Room of Requirement was, she had no idea who Umbridge was or what the D.A. meant.

"You need to be on the 7th floor. Face the wall opposite the tapestry of Barnabus the Barmy and walk past it three times, thinking hard about what you need. We could go now if you want." Hermione offered gently.

"That's okay. I'll try it later." Pansy said, thinking that she needed to find a wand in her world, not in this one.

Hermione gave a small nod, then looked away from Pansy, who felt her sense of guilt growing. Pansy didn't mean to exclude her girlfriend from this or make it seem like she was hiding anything. Maybe it would be better to try it here. Pansy could attempt it while Hermione was there to help, after all.

"On second thought, let's do it now. I might need your help." Pansy said, specifically adding the last part to make Hermione a little more appreciated.

Hermione nodded solicitously and unwrapped the blanket around them both. Pansy, who had been enjoying the warmth, stood up and rubbed her shoulders from the sudden chill around her. Hermione stuffed the huge blanket into the tiny beaded bag on her lap, which was an arresting sight. She then put the blue bonfire out with a wave of her wand. Pansy did her part by Vanishing the two empty butterbeer bottles on the ground.

Pansy opened the door to the Astronomy Tower and let Hermione enter first. Before she went inside herself, she took a look at the bright, starlit sky overhead. Getting up here was a pain, but the view of the sky was incredible. For the first time, Pansy realized that she had been missing out by only looking at the glass ball her parents had bought for her.

* * *

They didn't have long to travel, considering that the entrance to the Astronomy Tower was on the 7th floor itself. Ordinarily, Pansy and Hermione would not have walked together in a public area like this, but Pansy didn't care, considering this wasn't really her world. Hermione's opinion mattered more here, and if Hermione didn't mind walking next to her, then that was fine with Pansy.

They reached the tapestry of Barnabus the Barmy after a few minutes. The blank stone wall opposite the tapestry looked like any other stretch of wall in the castle. Pansy looked doubtfully over at Hermione, who nodded encouragingly at her. Feeling a little foolish, Pansy walked from one end of the tapestry to the other with her eyes closed, thinking about what she needed.

What did she need, though? Opening this Room of Requirement and finding a wand inside would prove that it would most likely work in the real world, but Pansy only needed to prove that it really did create what the user needed. So Pansy decided to have a little fun with the idea. It probably wouldn't work anyway.

After her third trip back and forth past the tapestry, Pansy opened her eyes to look at the stone wall across from it. A door had appeared where there was no door before, which made Pansy stop in her tracks. She could see Hermione open her eyes a second later, and her girlfriend smiled at the sight. Pansy was a little hesitant about opening the door, so Hermione walked forward and opened it first.

The room inside was small but cozy, and very expensively decorated. A large four-poster bed dominated the center of the room. The bedposts were dark mahogany, and they were carved with the images of the four Hogwarts houses. Pansy saw, on each corner, a carved snake, badger, eagle, and lion. Transparent white silk hangings lay on all sides from the canopy above the bed. All in all, a very impressive king-sized bed. For the first time, Pansy had seen a bed that was even more extravagant than hers. Elsewhere in the room were expensive decorations like a spun glass phoenix perched on top of a marble stand, which Pansy recognized from the entrance hall of the Parkinson Manor. This whole place looked like an odd mishmash of Pansy's room and her bedchamber at Hogwarts, combined with some of the decorative items that were elsewhere in her manor.

"What...what is this?" Hermione asked, stunned at the sheer extravagance of the small room they were in.

"I was afraid this was going to happen, love." Pansy said, shaking her head and trying to hide her smile.

"What do you mean? Didn't you want to find a wand here?" Hermione asked quizzically.

"This is why I wasn't sure I wanted you to come along. I thought you might distract me." Pansy said, sighing regretfully.

"Distract you? I don't understand." Hermione said, tilting her head a fraction as she looked at Pansy.

"You see, I tried really hard to think about finding a wand. But with you next to me, I couldn't help but think for just a split second that I really, really needed to find a place to make love to you." Pansy said, stepping closer to Hermione.

Hermione blinked for a moment, then exasperation showed on her face. She turned around to leave the room, but Pansy quickly grabbed Hermione's hand. She didn't want Hermione to flounce away angrily, especially since she might not see this version of Hermione for some time.

"Come on, love. We have the room. If you stay, I promise I'll tell you exactly why I need the wand, okay?" Pansy offered, smiling at her.

Hermione frowned and looked as if she wanted to pull her hand away, but her curiosity was warring with her. Eventually, Hermione relented and nodded to Pansy.

"I'll stay, but you have to tell me right now." Hermione said firmly, looking into Pansy's eyes for any evasiveness.

There wasn't much Pansy could do. Pansy was aware that she had some kind of "tell" in her eyes when she lied and Hermione was the only one who could consistently spot it. She could either try to lie with Hermione looking in her eyes or say no, both of which would absolutely cause her girlfriend to storm away. The truth was the only real option Pansy had.

"You remember when I said you were my maid in the dream?" Pansy said hesitating somewhat.

"I do." Hermione said, simply.

"Well, in my dream, you don't have a wand. That's why I need to find one. For you, but the version of you in my dream." Pansy said, wincing at how crazy she had to sound.

The seconds ticked by in silence as Hermione processed this information. Hermione opened her mouth for a moment, then closed it again. Pansy felt like the room was hotter than she remembered it being a few seconds ago. Just as she opened her mouth to tell Hermione that it was only a joke, Hermione spoke.

"So...you think if you find a spare wand when you're awake, that will mean you'll have one to give me in your dream?" Hermione asked slowly.

"Something like that." Pansy agreed, thinking that answer was somewhat less nuts than anything else she could think of."

"Would you have to find it in the dream, though?" Hermione asked, trying to apply logic in this logic-less situation.

"In the dream, I'm always wearing the clothes I wore when I'm awake. I think maybe if I fall asleep clutching the wand, I might be able to trick my mind into taking it with me." Pansy said inventively.

"Oh. I guess that kind of makes sense. You could have just told me that." Hermione said, relaxing.

"Sorry, love." Pansy said, allowing herself to relax as well.

Hermione allowed Pansy to lead her to the large bed in the center of the room. Pansy moved the translucent silk hangings to the side to see that the covers were white satin. Definitely not a bed Pansy would have chosen to sleep in, but it would serve wonderfully here. Pansy sat down on the edge of the bed and Hermione followed suit.

"Is this your idea of a bed? It's ridiculous." Hermione said, running her hands over the satin covers.

"I don't think this bed was made with sleeping in mind, love." Pansy said, leaning in to kiss Hermione softly.

Hermione kissed her back, as expected. What was unexpected was the way that Hermione reached over to pull Pansy's school robes over her head before Pansy thought to do it to her girlfriend. Surprised, but pleased, Pansy duly raised her arms and allowed Hermione to undress her. Hermione then took hold of her shoulders. Pansy could feel a slight pressure on them, and she acquiesced by allowing Hermione to push her down on the bed. Hermione followed Pansy down and continued to kiss her. Her girlfriend's kisses were not like the soft one Pansy had just given her, rather they mirrored the rougher ones Pansy had given to Hermione in the bath. Pansy opened her mouth hesitantly, not really expecting Hermione to move her tongue inside, but she was wrong. It was a strange feeling to be kissed deeply like that, but one that Pansy thought she could certainly get used to.

Pansy let herself relax completely, choosing to focus on the feeling of her girlfriend kissing her, combined with the divine softness of the satin covers beneath her. Time lost its meaning for a while, and it was only when Hermione stopped kissing her that Pansy opened her eyes again. Hermione pulled her robes over her head, exposing her emerald green bra and knickers. These were Pansy's absolute favorites. She reached out, intending to tease Hermione's nipples through her bra, but her girlfriend wasn't having it. Hermione grabbed her wrists and pinned them down on both sides of Pansy's head.

Pansy's heart beat faster as she realized Hermione had no intention of letting her take control like usual. Pansy could do very little but look into her girlfriend's eyes and wait for Hermione to decide what she was going to do with her. Hermione's eyes traveled downward to Pansy's midnight blue knickers. Pansy looked downward as well and felt herself blushing. The dark color did not succeed in hiding the small wet spot on the front of them.

"You seem to like this." Hermione said, still gripping Pansy's wrists.

Pansy nodded, trying to get Hermione to start touching her, or licking her, or anything really. But Hermione seemed to be in no rush.

"Inviting me here under false pretenses, just so we can have sex. Well, you got your wish. But it's not going exactly as you thought, is it?" Hermione asked coolly, looking like she could get used to having Pansy in this position.

"N-No, not exactly." Pansy answered, her voice shaking with a need that surprised her.

"Apologize, then. If I like the sound of it, I'll keep going." Hermione said loftily.

"I-I'm sorry." Pansy said, swallowing heavily.

"Not good enough. Make me believe it!" Hermione said crossly, gripping Pansy's wrists hard enough make Pansy wince.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry! Please!" Pansy said, her voice on the edge of something she had never had reason to speak before: begging.

Hermione bent down to kiss her deeply again, though she kept Pansy's wrists pinned to the bed. She then repositioned herself so that her right leg was pressed up against the front of Pansy's knickers. Hermione started to move her hips back and forth, and the friction against Pansy's clit made her gasp. Or try to, except Hermione was currently proving that Pansy's most insistent kisses in the past were feeble efforts as compared to how forcefully Hermione was kissing her now.

Only now was Pansy able to appreciate why Hermione seemed to climax harder when she was helpless, because the fact that Pansy was completely under her girlfriend's power was making every touch electrifying. The only thing Pansy could do was match the movement of Hermione's hips as much as she could. Every pseudo-thrust caused a wave of pleasure that radiated outward from Pansy's pussy, and Pansy knew it was only moments before she was sent over the edge.

Pansy's climax swept through her like a scorching wave. The overwhelming sensation was almost frightening to Pansy, which caused her to writhe underneath Hermione, but she remained in her girlfriend's grasp. The only thing she succeeded in doing was extending her own orgasm by bucking her hips against Hermione's.

After a few minutes, Pansy was dimly aware that she was no longer being held down. Hermione was standing at the side of the bed next to Pansy. She seemed to be holding a bottle of yellowish liquid. Pansy blinked and tried to clear her head as she saw Hermione pour some of the liquid onto a small piece of cloth. The next thing she felt was cooling relief on her left wrist, which Pansy realized had been stinging slightly before.

"Are you okay? I think I overdid it a little on your wrists. I'm using essence of murtlap to help with the abrasions." Hermione said, looking at Pansy with definite concern.

"Essence of murtlap?" Pansy said foggily, still recovering from what was easily the biggest orgasm of her life.

"I know you never pay attention in Care of Magical Creatures unless there's a unicorn involved, but Hagrid mentioned essence of murtlap last year. It works brilliantly on skin." Hermione said, moving on to Pansy's right wrist.

Pansy looked at her left wrist, which was more or less healed. But her right wrist still had bright red handmarks on them. Hermione did that? Pansy couldn't help but be a little impressed. But then, Pansy felt like she needed to reevaluate her view of Hermione entirely after the last 30 minutes or so.

"So. That was different." Pansy murmured as she watched Hermione tend to her other wrist.

"Yeah. I thought you might like something...different. And I was still mad that you wanted me to come here just for sex. I think that the two feelings combined pretty well, don't you think?" Hermione asked coolly.

"I wouldn't mind doing that again in the future. If you can keep yourself from breaking my wrists next time." Pansy said ruefully.

"I got a little carried away, that's all. And I already have some plans for next time." Hermione said, looking at Pansy with a touch of what Pansy might call haughtiness, except that she couldn't really ascribe that to Hermione.

They got dressed, although Pansy was in the unusual circumstance of having to be helped by Hermione. Pansy was a touch unsteady on her feet but felt that it would go away quickly if she started walking. She hung back a little as Hermione headed toward the door, thinking that maybe her girlfriend would prefer that they not exit at the same time. But Hermione turned around to look at Pansy as she reached the door.

"Well, coming?" Hermione asked, to which Pansy nodded quickly.

Pansy quickly caught up to Hermione, but as she exited the door with her girlfriend, she woke up in her bed.

* * *

Pansy struggled to extricate herself from her covers. Her alarm clock hadn't rung yet, but Pansy didn't have any time to waste lying in bed. This was the morning of Christmas Break. Every student who wanted to leave the castle needed to be in the Entrance Hall after breakfast to take the horseless carriages to the station at Hogsmeade where the Hogwarts Express would be waiting. That meant Pansy had less than an hour and a half to get into the Room of Requirement and find a wand.

Pansy dressed with far less of her usual attention to detail. She swept out of her bedchamber and saw that there was no one in the common room. The entitled purebloods that Pansy shared this common room with did not tend to be early risers, and Pansy realized that she herself had never been out of her bedchamber before her alarm clock had rung before. Hopefully, that would mean that she was less likely to be disturbed on the 7th floor.

None of the other pureblood students were outside in the castle corridors, and any halfbloods that were outside made certain not to bother Pansy as she walked past them. Not that Pansy bullied them, as many of the other pureblood students did, but it was general knowledge that Pansy Parkinson freely used the punishments available to her as Head Girl with anyone foolish enough to upset her.

She made it to the 7th-floor corridor quickly enough, although Pansy was again out of breath when she reached the tapestry of Barnabus the Barmy. Pansy paused to rub the stitch in her side and vowed to join some kind of athletic club when she got back from Christmas Break. Seeing no one else in the corridor, she closed her eyes and walked back and forth in front of the stretch of stone wall, thinking about her need for a wand very clearly. When Pansy opened her eyes, she was gratified to see a door had appeared there. Pansy looked around again at the empty corridor before opening the door and walking inside.

Pansy wasn't sure what she had been expecting, (a small room similar to before, containing a wand lying on a velvet cushion, displayed on a marble stand?) but this wasn't it. Pansy had stepped into a cavernous room filled with all kinds of debris. There were actual hills of trash, yet as Pansy looked more carefully, she saw the debris wasn't really trash. Well, most of it wasn't. There was quite a bit of destroyed furniture lying around, as well as a large number of what looked like empty sherry bottles. But aside from that, Pansy could see piles of books and cauldrons and corked potions, interspersed with a number of rusted weapons, some of which had congealed blood on them. Pansy's stomach turned at the sight of the blood, but it also gave her hope. If there could be a bloodstained scimitar peeking out from underneath a smashed cabinet, then surely there was a wand in here somewhere.

"Accio Wand!" Pansy said loudly, looking around the huge room for any sign of movement.

There was nothing, which hopefully only meant that Summoning Charms did not work here. Pansy put her wand away, then started to carefully sift through the piles of debris, looking for any sign of another wand. Several times, Pansy's heart leaped as she saw a narrow strip of wood, but each time, it was simply a broken-off chair leg.

An hour had passed with no success. Pansy had just about lost her patience with this when she suffered a small cut on her hand after grabbing what turned out to be a Fanged Frisbee underneath a spellbook. Pansy hissed with anger and pulled out her wand.

"Reducto!" Pansy shrieked, pointing it at the offending pile of debris.

The pile was blasted away from her, sending various objects ricocheting around the room. Thankfully, nothing hit Pansy, who quickly realized what a stupid thing she had done. Pansy sighed and put her wand away. The search was hopeless, and Pansy barely had any time to get to the Entrance Hall as it was. As she picked her way through the piles of debris to leave the cavernous room, Pansy happened to spot one of the ricocheted items on the ground. It was a narrow strip of wood, but it wasn't a chair leg.

It was a wand, and miraculously, it didn't seem to have been damaged at all by Pansy's outburst. Pansy picked it off the ground at once and examined it. At over 13 inches, it was fairly long, and completely inflexible. Pansy was hardly an expert on wands, but she thought it might have been walnut. Pansy took a deep breath before pointing the wand high in the air. Multicolored sparks flew out of the end.

Pansy smiled for the first time since she had woken up. This wand was going to be in her maid's hands by the end of the day. Pansy would guarantee it.


	9. Waking Reunions

Pansy stood in front of the huge wooden double doors of her own manor, wondering why she was hesitating. This was her manor. Pansy didn't have to worry about her parents, considering they had seen fit to head to their winter estate in Côte d'Azur. They claimed they loved the warmer climate there, but Pansy suspected that what they really loved was being a whole country away from their daughter. It could hardly be a coincidence that they only occupied the Parkinson Manor in Cheshire when Pansy was at Hogwarts.

The real reason why Pansy was stalling was obvious, even if she didn't want to admit it to herself. Hermione was waiting inside. Pansy had assumed, even on the long train ride here, that she would be so enthusiastic to see Hermione in reality that she would burst into her manor and seek out her maid as quickly as possible. And yet, as soon as Pansy had walked through the wrought, black iron gates of the Parkinson Manor, her steps had slowed to a crawl. All the guilt and uncertainty that had been slowly building within her over the last few weeks was making itself keenly felt.

Superficially speaking, Pansy had always treated her maid well. Few mudbloods had a position as safe, comfortable and secure as Hermione did. Pansy had never raised her voice at Hermione, had never tried to compel Hermione's obedience, and had certainly never raised a hand to Hermione. But Pansy had also never treated her as a human being with thoughts and feelings equal to her own. Even when Pansy had realized that Blood Status was nonsense, that she had no reason to believe that she was in any way superior to Hermione, her actions hadn't really changed. Pansy had still expected Hermione to wait on her hand and foot.

The fact that Pansy had become besotted with her maid had only made it worse, because Pansy had become afraid of giving Hermione the option of refusing her. Pansy had selfishly avoided opening herself up to rejection by ignoring her own conscience, and now it was gnawing at her. More than that, it was making Pansy freeze her butt off by standing outside her manor in the frigid December weather. Pansy swallowed heavily and reached out to touch the handle. As she opened the door, Pansy told herself that her hand was only shaking because of the temperature.

The entrance hall was as Pansy remembered it. The spun-glass phoenix in front of the stairway that the Room of Requirement had pulled from her memories dominated the large, airy chamber. It was one of the few things Pansy and her parents liked, and Pansy crossed the room to run a finger over it. No dust on it whatsoever.

Hermione must have kept busy. Pansy felt that sense of gnawing discomfort increase as she thought about Hermione having to keep the manor spotless during the almost 4 months Pansy had been at Hogwarts. Her parents were not cruel, but neither were they kind. Hermione would have been just another mudblood, there to do the menial work they were too lazy to do themselves. Unbidden comparisons between Pansy's parents and Pansy herself rose in her mind, and she swiftly climbed the stairs, trying to find Hermione. The study. If there was one place in the manor Hermione might be, that was it.

"Hermione? Are you there?" Pansy called out softly.

Calling out Hermione's name here seemed odd to Pansy. A second later, she realized why. She hadn't been in the habit of using Hermione's name. Pansy couldn't help but wince as she remembered that "pet" was her preferred way of calling her maid. It had seemed like a cute way to show affection, but now...

Pansy opened the door to the study, but no one was there. Curiously, the study had the same spotless, austere feeling that the entrance hall had. Nothing was out of place, and the room gave off the impression that no one had spent much time here. Strange. Surely Hermione couldn't possibly have read every book the study contained.

The parlor was the next place to check. It was situated on the second floor between the study and Pansy's room. It contained Hermione's sewing machine and was a convenient place for them both to hang out. The sofa there was comfortable, and Hermione was usually within range to respond to whatever whim Pansy might have. It made Pansy wonder what Hermione must have thought of her, lounging on the sofa and reading Witch Weekly while she worked. Worse than that were the times when Pansy would announce that she felt like having a snack, with the obvious implication that Hermione was to go fetch her something from the kitchen. Which she did. Remembering that made Pansy cringe now.

The parlor door was slightly ajar. Pansy did her best to settle the nerves in her stomach before she opened the door. Standing in the room with her back turned was Hermione. The first thing Pansy noticed was that Hermione was not wearing the boring, demure maid's dress she had sewn in preparation for Pansy's parents arriving. Instead, Hermione had changed back into the form-fitting maid's dress with the plunging back. The Parkinson Family Crest peeked out on Hermione's lower back below her maid's wonderfully bushy hair. Seeing it there split Pansy between selfish pleasure at knowing Hermione still carried the mark of implied ownership, and the guilt she felt at having placed it on Hermione without ever getting her consent.

"Hello, love." Pansy said softly.

Hermione turned swiftly. Momentary surprise showed in her eyes, but Hermione quickly recovered, giving Pansy a practiced curtsy. The silver snake choker Hermione wore on her neck drew Pansy's attention at once. It was another sign that this was the real Hermione. The emeralds set in the eyes of the snake shined brightly, and Pansy was filled with regret at the thought of taking it off her maid.

"Welcome back, Mistress." Hermione said, looking her in the eyes.

That was different. Hermione tended to avoid looking Pansy, or any pureblood, in the eyes. Not that Pansy ever tried to encourage that, but the orphanage Hermione had grown up in had no doubt impressed upon her the need for mudbloods to be humble and subservient. And yet Hermione seemed to have shed that conditioning in the few months that Pansy had been away. Her posture was different too. Hermione had a very subtle and likely unconscious way of drawing in her shoulders and squinching herself down, almost as if she was trying not to be noticed. Pansy was able to detect it only after watching Hermione for a long time, but now it was gone. Was Pansy's new view of Hermione colouring how she saw her, or had Hermione really changed?

Pansy put all of that aside for the moment. Hermione was there in front of her, in real life. Pansy dropped her purse enchanted with the Undetectable Extension Charm on the floor and crossed the room quickly. She embraced her maid warmly, and Pansy was surprised by how relieved she was when Hermione hugged her back. That alone was enough to persuade Pansy to forget about giving Hermione the wand right away. It could wait.

"I've missed you, love." Pansy said, her voice slightly muffled by Hermione's bushy hair.

"I've missed you too, Mistress." came Hermione's measured reply.

"You don't need to call me that anymore. Call me Pansy, please." Pansy asked, pulling back from the hug.

Hermione said nothing, though she looked at Pansy curiously. Pansy expected some hesitation. In wizarding society, mudbloods did not call purebloods by their first name. Failing to use an honorific was dangerous for them. Pansy did what she could to set Hermione at ease by nodding encouragingly and waiting for her maid to respond.

"If that's what you want...Pansy." Hermione said, swallowing slightly before the end.

Pansy smiled and hugged Hermione again. She expected Hermione to have more difficulty with that, but was pleasantly surprised to see her maid adjust so well. Just hearing Hermione use her name made Pansy feel better. "Mistress" was such a cold, distant term in comparison. Though it was probably better than being addressed as "Pet". Pansy vowed to make up for that in the future, but for now, she felt like reintroducing herself in a more personal way.

Pansy touched the buttons on the straps holding up Hermione's dress. A simple flick of them would cause her maid's dress to fall to the ground. Pansy pulled back from the hug to look at Hermione. Judging from the blush entering her cheeks, Hermione seemed to know exactly where Pansy's fingers were. Normally Pansy would simply proceed as she wished here, but Hermione deserved a chance to say no. Pansy had to get her maid's consent before going any further.

"Well?" Pansy asked softly, fingering the buttons.

Hermione seemed surprised that Pansy was even asking her. A moment later, however, she gave a quick nod. That was all Pansy needed. She undid the buttons on the straps and watched Hermione's maid dress fall. Hermione was wearing the black lace bra and knickers Pansy had originally bought for her. Technically, wearing underwear of any kind was against Pansy's previous orders. But she wasn't going to order Hermione around like that anymore. Besides, her maid looked very appealing in them.

Pansy led Hermione over to the sofa. She began the rather more involved task of taking off her own dress, which was not designed with ease of access in mind. Her school robes would have been far easier to take off, but Pansy had made certain to change on the train. Seeing Pansy in them might make Hermione even more envious than she already was. A few seconds into the process, Hermione began helping her unbutton her dress. Pansy immediately opened her mouth to tell Hermione that it wasn't necessary, but she closed it a second later. They had helped each other dress and undress enough that it was less of a maid's actions and more of a romantic one.

As soon as Pansy was able to step out of her dress, she sat down on the sofa, pulling Hermione down with her. Pansy leaned in and kissed Hermione softly, remembering that the last time they had kissed while Pansy was awake, it had been on this sofa months before. In the dreams, however, the last time they had been together Hermione had been the one to dominate her. It had been unusual and exciting, but Pansy thought it would be asking a bit much of Hermione to do the same here. She may be different than Pansy remembered, but no one could change that much.

Pansy unhooked Hermione's bra before pushing her down on the sofa. Hermione looked directly into her eyes once again as Pansy straddled her. Pansy thought she could detect just a hint of a challenge there, but nevertheless, she allowed Pansy to take control. Her maid's behavior was decidedly odd, after all. Hermione's actions were exactly as expected, but Pansy could detect very little submission in her attitude. Why would that be?

Pansy filed that question away for later. For now, she had Hermione on the sofa below her. Her maid's black lace bra was off, and Pansy could see Hermione's nipples were already hard. That hadn't changed, at least. Pansy quickly began pinching and rubbing them. Hermione drew her breath in quickly, but didn't give the gasp Pansy had wanted. So Pansy bent down and began sucking Hermione's left nipple while continuing to pinch her right one. This time, Pansy was rewarded with a loud gasp from Hermione, as well as some squirming beneath her. Pansy settled herself more securely over her maid as she continued to stimulate Hermione's nipples.

From past experience, Pansy knew that Hermione could orgasm from her nipples alone. But that didn't mean she had to focus on them solely. In their last interaction, the dream Hermione had put her leg in between Pansy's legs before grinding it against her pussy. Judging from the explosive orgasm Pansy had as a result, the technique seemed to work very well. So Pansy decided to see how the real Hermione would take it.

Pansy moved her left leg in between Hermione's. As soon as she made contact with the front of Hermione's knickers, she started moving it in the same motion as Hermione had done to her in the dream. Hermione brought her head up to look at Pansy in surprise. For a moment, she seemed to be searching Pansy's eyes for something, but maybe Pansy was just imagining it. A moment later, Hermione dropped her head and squeezed her legs around Pansy's.

For the next few minutes, Pansy had a very enjoyable time sucking on Hermione's nipples, alternating every 30 seconds or so, while grinding her leg against Hermione's pussy. Judging from the gasps and moans of her maid beneath her, Hermione was having an even better time. Pansy continued sucking until she felt Hermione start to arch her back. Knowing exactly what that meant, Pansy redoubled the speed of her motions as Hermione started to shriek. But Pansy didn't mind the noise. They were quite alone in her manor, and Hermione could be as loud as she wanted to be.

Eventually, Hermione's climax winded down. She stopped writhing on the sofa and laid there tiredly, just trying to catch her breath. Pansy pushed herself up in order to get a better view of her maid. Hermione was never as beautiful as when she had just came. Her maid's cheeks were flushed, her eyes were half-lidded, and her hair was pooled around her head. Pansy bent down to give Hermione a very soft kiss on her lips before settling down on the sofa next to her maid. After getting up before dawn to find the wand in the Room of Requirement, Pansy was pretty tired. And it would take awhile for Hermione to gather her energy back. A nap was just was what needed for them both.

Pansy nestled closer to her maid, her eyes feeling like lead suddenly. Hermione settled herself against Pansy reflexively, as their nap routine dictated. Right before Pansy felt herself about to fall asleep, she drowsily remembered that she was going to give Hermione the wand.

"I've got a present for you later, love." Pansy mumbled.

Unfortunately for Pansy, her imminent slumber was disrupted by Hermione, who pushed herself up from the sofa at once.

"You found a wand?" Hermione whispered, her voice filled with wonder.

Pansy opened her eyes, feeling confused. She hadn't given any hint to Hermione that she was looking for a wand. Not while she was awake, anyway. There was no way for her maid to know that. Unless...

"How...how did you know?" Pansy asked Hermione, already having a feeling about what the answer was.

Hermione looked into her eyes, confirming what Pansy suspected.

"Have you been having strange dreams, too?" Hermione asked quietly.


	10. The Willow Wand

Pansy held up the walnut wand and saw how fully Hermione was focused on it. How many years of seeing other children perform magic had Hermione been forced to watch as a child? It must have been heartrending to know that she could do the same if only she had a wand to use. But it had been cruelly denied to her and other mudbloods because they didn't have magical parents.

Pansy, like other pureblood children, had received her wand at the age of 7. Her wand was made of elm, which had pleased her parents, as Ollivander was quick to mention that elm wands tended to favor those with the purest blood. All Pansy had known was that the springy, 10 and 1/2 inch elm wand with unicorn hair felt warm and friendly in her hand.

She could still remember the first spell she had cast with it. It had been outside Ollivanders a few minutes after leaving the shop. Apparently, receiving her wand was not enough for Pansy at that age, as she remembered demanding a double-scoop sundae from Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlor. Her mother had told her it was too close to dinnertime. 7-year-old Pansy had responded to this outrageous refusal by soaking her mother with a jet of water from her new wand, which resulted in it being taken away for a day or two.

Hermione never had an experience like that. A cringe-inducing experience, to be sure, as Pansy wasn't sure how anyone had managed to tolerate her at that age. But an important memory nevertheless. It had to be better than mournfully watching other children get what was denied to her.

But this wouldn't really be the first time Hermione would use a wand, would it? Because Hermione had been sharing the dream in Hogwarts all this time. They had spent the last hour talking to each other and confirming exactly what was happening. Hermione had been spending her waking hours mindlessly toiling in the manor, playing the part of the humble mudblood maid for Pansy's parents. But when Hermione slept, she woke up in Hogwarts.

Hermione's eyes had a far-away look in them when she talked about how wonderful the dream Hogwarts was. She didn't have to curtsy or keep silent while others talked. She didn't need to pretend to be dull. And though insults still came Hermione's way occasionally in the dream, being a muggleborn was something that didn't have to define her.

But most importantly, she had a wand to use. Hermione told Pansy of the moment where she had taken the 10 and 3/4 inch vinewood wand with dragon heartstring out of her robes and realized she could use it to cast whatever spell she wanted. Hermione's formerly depressing habit of reading spellbooks without any hope of casting the spells in them paid off for her here, as she found that after a little practice, casting them was positively easy.

In fact, the friends Hermione had, Ron Weasley and this "Harry Potter", looked to her for help with their own schoolwork. Hermione had never really believed in the propaganda the Ministry continually put out about purebloods being the most skilled and deserving magic users, though a part of her had wondered whether it was really true. But Ron Weasley was a pureblood, and seeing his mediocre magic ability had convinced Hermione that it wasn't true after all. Curiously, Hermione sounded like she was going to mention someone else's spellwork in addition to Ron but quickly stopped after glancing at Pansy, who did her best not to take offense at what she suspected Hermione was going to say.

That, and the fact that Hermione had not confided in her in the dream was making Pansy feel a little ill-tempered. Sure, Pansy hadn't told Hermione the exact truth, but Hermione hadn't told her anything at all. Even when Pansy had opened up about the "dream", which Hermione had known was reality, Hermione had acted as if she knew nothing about it.

Pansy wasn't happy, but she couldn't blame Hermione for doing that. She knew how hard it was for Hermione to trust any pureblood, and though Pansy had treated her quite kindly, Hermione had received the same impression from Pansy that she had gotten from other purebloods she had known: That she didn't treat muggleborns as equals worthy of respect and consideration. That was Pansy's fault, and it was something she was determined to make up for.

All the same, Pansy felt somewhat sour as she held up the walnut wand. Pansy was used to complete loyalty from her maid, and even knowing that she didn't deserve it, the feeling of being deceived was making her face tight. Not that Hermione even noticed, as her only concern was for the wand Pansy was holding.

"From what I've read, wands have allegiances. I found this wand after someone abandoned it in the Room of Requirement at Hogwarts, so I think I'm its current owner. If you want to use it properly, you'll have to take it from me." Pansy said evenly.

Hermione looked at Pansy's face, then to the wand, then back at Pansy. She stepped forward and reached out to take the wand, but Pansy pulled her hand back. She was torn between guilt at seeing the surprise on Hermione's face and the desire to relieve some of the hurt feelings inside her. Pansy's aim wasn't to make Hermione upset, though.

While trying to locate a wand for Hermione, Pansy had visited the library to look up information about wands. The one obscure book on wandlore that Pansy managed to find did not go into tremendous detail about a wand's allegiance. The author said that a wand must be "won", but what constituted "winning" was left to the reader's speculation. Would it be enough for Hermione to take it out of her hand, or was more required? Pansy didn't know. She might as well make it a little more difficult, though, just to be sure.

"You're going to have to do better than that, love." Pansy said, shaking her head.

Hermione fixed her with a look very reminiscent of the dream Hermione. Which made sense, as they were one and the same. Hermione reached for the wand again, and again Pansy pulled her hand back. This time, Hermione quickly stepped forward into Pansy's personal space to grab at it again. Pansy tried to back up, but Hermione had successfully taken hold of the top part of the wand.

Letting go was probably okay to do now, but she didn't. Maybe Pansy was feeling more raw than she thought. Hermione's attempt at yanking the wand out of hand was making her irrationally angry, and they struggled for a few seconds before Pansy realized she was losing. As a pureblood witch, Pansy's life of leisure didn't include a lot of physical activity. Hermione, on the other hand, had spent the last few months scrubbing the floors. It was more than enough for Hermione to be able to outmatch Pansy, who felt her grip on the wand slipping.

Was it Pansy's imagination, or did the walnut wand feel different in her hand now? Before, it had the same feeling of warmth and comfort that her own wand did. But ever since Hermione had grabbed it, the feeling fluctuated between warmth and coolness, and now that Pansy was barely holding onto it, it felt distinctly cold in her hand. Was the process working the other way around for Hermione?

Sparks shot out of the end of the wand Pansy was holding and she immediately let go. Pansy quickly brushed at the front of her dress, fearing that it might catch fire, but thankfully, none of the sparks caught. Hermione, breathing as hard as Pansy was, had a look of both triumph and wonder as she gazed at the wand she was holding.

"You didn't have to do that." Pansy said, grumbling.

"I didn't. It was the wand, I think." Hermione said, still gazing at it.

Pansy said nothing. It was ridiculous to feel rejected by a wand, especially when her own was still in her purse. And the whole point was to give it to Hermione. Still, Pansy had to work to feel pleased with how happy her maid was. Hermione raised the wand and shot multicolored silk streamers into the air with a look of delight.

"It works just like in the dream!" Hermione exclaimed, watching the streamers arc and fall across the room.

Pansy did her best to set her feelings aside and enjoy the sight in front of her. This wasn't really about her, after all. Hermione was now Vanishing the streamers on the ground with a look of deep satisfaction. It must have been quite nice to easily deal with refuse instead of having to carry it to the trash bin behind the manor.

Hermione then pointed her wand at Pansy, who felt a bit of trepidation. Hermione whispered a spell that Pansy had once used on her. A second later, Pansy felt her bra unhook itself behind her.

"Hey!" Pansy said, in no small amount of surprise.

Pansy felt her cheeks reddening, especially because of the amused look on Hermione's face. But she had no room to complain. Turnabout was fair play, after all.

"Hold still." Hermione said with a trace of the loftiness she had shown in the Room of Requirement, still pointing the wand at Pansy.

Pansy did as Hermione asked. One by one, the buttons on the back of her dress undid themselves. Pansy's breath sped up as she felt her dress beginning to loosen. One last button remained before it would fall off her shoulders. Hermione looked at Pansy questioningly, who nodded in the same way Hermione had nodded to her hours before.

The last button was undone, and Pansy's dress fell to her ankles along with her bra, leaving Pansy clad only in her deep violet knickers. Pansy reflexively crossed her arms over her chest, quite unused to being the one in this position. Pansy couldn't remember anyone daring to use a wand on her before, and her own wand was still in her purse across the room. The feeling of being completely at her maid's mercy was exciting, though. Hopefully, the dark color of her knickers was concealing evidence of Pansy's excitement, but from the knowing look on Hermione's face, it might not have been.

"Over to the sofa." Hermione said with a smile, not bothering to pretend that it wasn't an order.

Pansy turned and walked over to the sofa, although her speed wasn't to Hermione's satisfaction, judging from the light smack she felt on her ass. Pansy, her face reddening in both pique and embarrassment, turned to glare at Hermione, who simply flicked her wand again. The invisible smack to her ass that followed was hard enough to convince Pansy to shelve her pride and hurry to the sofa.

Keen to no longer present her butt as a target, Pansy sat down on the sofa as soon she reached it. Hermione slowly walked over, still holding her wand on Pansy. Her maid looked as if she quite enjoyed being on this end of the proceedings for once. Pansy, of course, had never used her wand on Hermione, who would have been unable to fight back. But she had dominated Hermione enough in the past without it that her maid evidently felt that the scales needed to be tipped back into balance.

"Sit back on the sofa and put your arms over your head." Hermione ordered, undermining the severity of her voice with a smile that she couldn't hide.

Pansy did as Hermione ordered, wondering where she was going with this. Hermione arranged Pansy's hands until they were clasped together above her head and in contact with the sofa. Hermione then twirled her wand in a tiny circular motion before pointing her wand at Pansy's hands. Immediately afterward, Pansy felt her hands press themselves to the sofa. Hermione seemed to have applied a Sticking Charm there. Pansy tried to pull her hands away, but it was in vain. Hermione's spellwork seemed flawless, even when she was casting spells she had never cast in reality. The only thing Pansy could take comfort in was that it was not a Permanent Sticking Charm, as it couldn't be applied to living things.

Pansy had no way to escape or even cover herself now. She could still talk, but she kept quiet. If Pansy spoke up, she wouldn't put it past her maid to use a Silencing Charm on her as well, considering that Pansy had used one on Hermione in the dream. Hermione took her time before settling down on the sofa beside her. Now that Pansy was completely helpless, she lowered her wand. Hermione then reached out with a finger to brush the front of Pansy's knickers softly, feeling the wetness there. Pansy gasped at the electrifying touch.

"Even though you absolutely deserve this, I'd feel bad about doing it. Except you seem to like it so much..." Hermione said with a smile full of amusement.

Pansy nodded, her cheeks red. She wanted Hermione to rub her harder. But Hermione continued to gently glide her finger over Pansy's knickers. Hermione, possibly because of her upbringing, had a sense of patience that Pansy, who had everything handed to her, had never developed. Pansy had no way of knowing how long Hermione could drag this out for. She could only squirm a slight amount, not wanting to provoke another Sticking Charm to anywhere else on her body.

"A few questions, then. Do you want me to do this more in the future?" Hermione asked, raising an eyebrow at Pansy.

Pansy was silent for a moment. Truth be told, she most definitely wanted Hermione to dominate her in the future. But if she admitted it, that would mean signing up for other embarrassments later. If she didn't, then moments like this would be few and far between. Pansy weighed the pros and cons for a few seconds before nodding again.

"Okay. Next question. How long were you going to put off giving me this wand?" Hermione asked, a trace of annoyance in her voice.

"I wasn't putting it off! I was going to give it to you after we took a nap." Pansy protested.

"After you wanted to nap, you mean. And after you wanted to have sex." Hermione said, the lecturing tone from the dream returning.

Pansy thought about continuing to defend herself, but didn't bother to try. Hermione was going to punish her in whatever way her maid had decided, if in fact she had decided to do that. After Pansy nodded in acquiescence, Hermione raised her wand again. Pansy prepared herself for whatever was coming, but her maid simply used her wand to slide Pansy's knickers down.

"That was what...2 hours ago? Teasing you for the next 2 hours sounds fair." Hermione said in a thoughtful tone, moving her fingers back down to gently brush against Pansy's bare pussy.

"You can't! Please!" Pansy said desperately, marveling at how quickly she was reduced to begging.

"I can do whatever I want right now. And if you want to take some time off the clock, try begging more." Hermione said, leaning closer to kiss Pansy's neck.

The minutes ticked by slowly as Pansy did indeed beg. Her pride had completely flown out the window as Hermione continued to gently tease Pansy's pussy with her finger. The moments where Pansy felt Hermione make brief contact with her clit was enough to take her breath away, and afterward, Pansy's begging ratcheted up higher every time. In contrast to the patient teasing of her fingers, Hermione's lips were more forceful. She kissed Pansy's neck at the exact spot Pansy liked to kiss hers, and Pansy quickly figured out that Hermione wasn't the only one to have a sensitive spot there.

After what felt like days but was probably less than half an hour, Hermione finally quit teasing her. Pansy gasped loudly as Hermione started to rub her clit, rolling it between her fingers. As exquisitely primed as Pansy was, it was only about 10 seconds before her orgasm crashed through her. Pansy was dimly aware of letting out very Hermione-like shrieks as she came, and squirmed as hard as her position on the sofa would allow.

By the time Pansy had come down from her climax, she realized that Hermione didn't seem to be beside her anymore. There was something warm in her lap, however. Pansy looked down and saw that Hermione had settled down on the sofa and seemed to be using Pansy's lap as a pillow.

Was her maid actually going to sleep without releasing Pansy from this position? Pansy briefly considered complaining, but honestly, she didn't have the energy to do so. Pansy was absolutely exhausted now, and considering the number of times she had used Hermione as her own personal pillow, this was probably what she deserved. At least Hermione's bushy hair was giving her a little bit of warmth.

The last thing Pansy thought before sleep overtook her was: What exactly had she unleashed here with her maid?


	11. New Routines

Pansy yawned and stretched, feeling incredibly content. Maybe it was the fact that she was in her own bed for the first time in months or the fact that, judging from the tiny, ornate clock on her bedside table, she had just slept for almost 12 hours. But the feeling almost certainly came from having Hermione beside her in bed.

About half an hour into their impromptu "nap", Hermione had freed Pansy from her bound position in the sofa. Pansy didn't have the clearest memory of what had happened, but she did remember Hermione being very apologetic about it. Pansy hadn't minded, really. If Hermione had some aggressive feelings to work through, then Pansy understood. It was enough that Hermione had helped her get into bed afterward. Pansy must have gone out like a light as soon as Hermione pulled the covers over her.

Hermione was sitting on the bed with her back propped up on the numerous small pillows that Pansy loved to have around her. She was wearing her usual maid outfit, which meant that Hermione had gotten up some time before. This was unsurprising, since Hermione had always woken up before Pansy did. How else would she prepare breakfast and retrieve the Daily Prophet for her mistress while Pansy was still slumbering? Pansy glanced at the small table in the middle of her room and saw the expected silver tray laden with tiny cups on saucers and a tray of biscuits. The paper was folded neatly beside it.

Hermione didn't seem to have noticed that Pansy had awoken. That was because her girlfriend was absorbed in an open book lying on her lap. Something about the sight made Pansy smile. Her girlfriend had gotten up to perform her normal maid duties and then settled back onto Pansy's bed with a book for company. Did she not want Pansy to wake up alone in the bed? Maybe she knew that Pansy slept much more deeply if Hermione was beside her.

"Good morning, love." Pansy said warmly, shifting over to kiss Hermione's bare shoulder.

"Good morning, Pansy." Hermione said, shifting her attention from her book to her girlfriend.

"You don't need to do that anymore. The tray, I mean. If you want to sleep in, you can." Pansy said kindly.

"Oh? And if I did? What would you do about breakfast?" Hermione asked doubtfully.

"I could manage." Pansy said, with far more confidence than she felt about the prospect.

Hermione's wry look told Pansy all she needed to know about how believable her statement was. In truth, Pansy had never cooked for herself in her life. There had always been a servant, either the older ones she had growing up, or the house-elves at Hogwarts, or Hermione herself, that would take care of it for her. Pansy only had to show up at the appointed time and there would be a meal waiting for her to eat. Such was the privilege of a pureblood in Wizarding society.

"Well, you could teach me a little." Pansy offered.

"I suppose I could, now that I can cast Aguamenti if things go wrong." Hermione teased, returning her attention to her book.

Pansy laughed. She might be inept in the kitchen, but she wouldn't end up starting a fire. Probably. Hopefully. It would be nice to have Hermione there to help her, regardless. Pansy was just starting to realize how everything seemed to be improved when Hermione was there. There was a sense of loneliness and unease that Pansy carried around with her at Hogwarts, and only now that it was gone did Pansy realize it. Having Hermione beside her made all the difference in the world, it seemed.

Pansy glanced at one of the windows in her room and saw light flakes of snow drifting past. Pansy whiled away several minutes in lazy comfort, looking out at the tips of the pine trees that surrounded the Parkinson Manor and listening to the sound of her girlfriend turning the page on her book every once in a while. Pansy wished moments like these would just keep going and that she would never have to worry about returning to Hogwarts, or worse, what would happen when she graduated. Pansy tried her best not to think about it, but that only made Pansy's mind start to focus on the future. And she couldn't stop thinking about it. Pansy needed a distraction. Thankfully, the potential for one was easily in reach. She just needed to get her girlfriend's attention.

Pansy leaned over to kiss the tip of Hermione's shoulder again. Her girlfriend was too absorbed in her book to give any sign that she had noticed. No matter. Pansy leaned closer and kissed higher on Hermione's shoulder until her lips had traveled to the strap that was holding her girlfriend's maid outfit up.

That did it. Hermione gave an exaggerated sigh and marked her place in the book before setting in on the bedside table. Hermione then turned back toward Pansy and kissed her lightly on the lips. Pansy kissed back with a little more insistence, which was quickly matched by Hermione. To Pansy's surprise, Hermione was the one to begin using her tongue first. Pansy opened her lips to accept it, greatly appreciating her newly-confident girlfriend's style. After only a few moments of this, Hermione pushed her down onto the bed and shifted until she was on top of Pansy. Hermione then found Pansy's hands with her own, made their fingers interlock, and held them down on either side of Pansy's head. It wasn't exactly the same as before, in the Room of Requirement. There, Hermione had an aggressive, tight grip on her wrists. This time, the pressure Hermione held Pansy's hands down with was firm, but not painful. It still delivered its intended message, however. It let Pansy know that Hermione had every intention of being the one in control right now. Her girlfriend broke off the kiss and raised herself up into a seating position, still keeping hold of Pansy's hands.

"So. Tomorrow is Christmas." Hermione stated, still catching her breath.

"It is." Pansy agreed, wondering where Hermione was going with this.

"You've already gotten me my gift. I need to give you one too. But the question is, what do you give the girl who has...everything?" Hermione asked, glancing around at Pansy's room.

"You don't need to get me anything." Pansy said hurriedly.

"And then it occurred to me." Hermione said, as if Pansy hadn't spoken.

"Yes?" Pansy asked, deeply curious now.

"We could switch. You could be my maid tomorrow. I think you'd like that." Hermione said, a slight smile on her face.

Pansy felt a definite tinge of excitement at the thought. Hermione, who had been looking closely at Pansy's reaction, smiled a little wider. She bent down to kiss Pansy again before raising herself up once more.

"So what do you say?" Hermione asked, sounding as if she already knew the answer.

"That sounds fun. But it also seems like another gift for you." Pansy pointed out in a teasing tone.

"Getting two gifts would be fitting, then, if I'm the Mistress and you're the maid." Hermione said, grinning rather wickedly at Pansy.

Pansy smiled at the thought. This would be exactly the kind of distraction she needed. Pansy had always wondered what it would be like to be the one fetching and curtsying, and she couldn't deny being interested, very interested actually, in Hermione taking a dominant attitude with her. Pansy only hoped that her possible ineptness would not be too much of a problem.

"Okay. We'll need to go over some things, though. Do you know how to curtsy? What about the daily chores? Or our clothing? And for meals, it might be a good idea-" Hermione said in a rush, her organizational mind whirring.

"That can wait, love, For now..." Pansy prompted gently, hoping that Hermione would remember what they had been in the middle of doing.

"Oh. Of course." Hermione said, shaking her head slightly.

Hermione thought for a moment, then let go of Pansy's hands. She scooted forward until her legs were on both sides of Pansy's head. Hermione then lifted her skirt, exposing the black lace knickers that were a part of her maid's outfit. Pansy, who appreciated the view in front of her very much, did not immediately pay attention to the indicated area. Instead, Pansy chose to plant kisses around Hermione's inner thighs, and only occasionally delivering a kiss to the front of Hermione's knickers. Listening to Hermione's soft sighs and feeling the slowly increasing wetness on her lips from the damp spot on Hermione's knickers was a very enjoyable way to do foreplay.

Eventually, Hermione felt that enough was enough, judging from the way she drew her thighs inward so that Pansy could no longer turn her neck to kiss them. Hermione then pulled her black lace knickers to the side, exposing her pussy and letting Pansy know, in no uncertain terms, where she needed to pay attention to. Pansy got the message and began using her tongue to give Hermione's pussy the attention it deserved.

Hermione instantly let out a louder moan, before starting to move her hips against Pansy's mouth. Pansy could remember the first time she had given Hermione oral sex; it had been on the parlor sofa, and Hermione had been so embarrassed that she had hidden her face under her hair at the time. Now, Hermione was starting to ride Pansy's face without a trace of embarrassment on her part. As much fun as it had been to see her girlfriend blush, Pansy rather liked this new, confident Hermione that didn't hesitate to let Pansy know what she wanted when it came to making love.

Minutes passed in which Pansy continued to lick Hermione's pussy. It was easy to tell which places gave her girlfriend the most pleasure, as they were the places which caused Hermione's moans to ratchet higher, or to squeeze her thighs tighter around Pansy's head. But it was the moment when Hermione suddenly grabbed the headboard with both hands and moved her hips with the greatest intensity yet that told Pansy that Hermione was nearing orgasm. Pansy thought briefly about letting up with her tongue in order to delay Hermione's climax but rejected the idea quickly. She wasn't at all confident that Hermione wouldn't take out her new wand if Pansy attempted to tease her like that.

Hermione began letting out her customary loud shrieks. It was a good thing that nobody else was here, or the volume of Hermione's shrieks would have likely traveled through every room in the manor. Pansy was actually thankful that Hermione's thighs helped cover her ears, so she didn't have to be distracted when it came to using her tongue to extend her girlfriend's climax as long as possible.

Finally, after more than a minute, Hermione quieted down and sagged next to the headboard in front of her, using it to hold herself up. Her eyes were closed in temporary exhaustion, but she soon opened them to peer down at Pansy.

"Wow. We need to do that more often." Hermione remarked tiredly.

"If that's what you desire, Mistress." Pansy said teasingly, trying out the word for herself.

"Ooo. I think I could get used to that." Hermione said, raising her eyebrows in approval.

Pansy began to deliver slow, gentle licks to Hermione's pussy. The slight quiver that went through her girlfriend's body raised Pansy's hopes that Hermione might want a second round. But instead, Hermione lifted herself off of Pansy and sat back down at the foot of the bed.

"Later, maybe. We do have a lot to go over." Hermione said, a lecturing note in her voice.

"We will. But after a shower, I think." Pansy said, getting up from her prone position and moving herself to sit at the edge of the bed.

Hermione automatically got off the bed before catching herself. Pansy could tell that Hermione had reacted to the word "shower" by getting up with the intention of leaving to go warm it up for Pansy. It made Pansy smile sadly, knowing that their past routines couldn't be discarded so easily. That would take a conscious effort on both of their parts, and in this case, it would start by Pansy doing a few things herself.

"I'll go turn it on this time. You can join me there, if you want, love." Pansy offered, standing up from the bed.

"I might, if I can finish the next chapter quickly enough. I was rudely interrupted by somebody before I could finish it." Hermione said lightly, picking up the book she had set down on the table.

Pansy knew that Hermione was not truly annoyed at being interrupted, but she was glad that her girlfriend was comfortable enough to speak up about it. The old Hermione would have said nothing more than "Yes, Mistress." if Pansy asked her to join her in the shower. It made for a much more fascinating, complex, and fulfilling relationship when her love said what she thought, instead of what she thought Pansy wanted to hear.


	12. Unorthodox Gifts

Pansy set the bucket full of soapy water she was carrying down on the floor. The stairway leading to the hallway in front of her room looked clean enough, but Pansy knew that her parents wouldn't agree. They would expect the Parkinson Manor to be spotless, and this stairway was one of the most trafficked areas in the manor.

Not coincidentally, this was near the same spot she remembered Hermione scrubbing just before Pansy left for Hogwarts. Pansy had been lounging on her bed, reading the various letters she had received from Slughorn and Snape, detailing the booklist for the year as well as informing Pansy of her Head Girl status. Hermione had been patiently scrubbing the hallway the whole while.

Things were different this time. Their Christmas present to each other had involved a temporary role switch. For today, Pansy was the maid and Hermione was the Mistress. They had come up with a general idea of how it would go the day before: Pansy would assume a truncated list of Hermione's normal responsibilities, while Hermione would do whatever she wished while being free to give her girlfriend orders throughout the day. It was good to be the Mistress, after all.

Pansy bent down in front of the first step, took a sponge out of the bucket of soapy water beside her, and got to work. Most people might see having to scrub a stairway on their hands and knees to be a strange sort of Christmas present, and truth be told, Pansy wasn't thrilled by the act. But if she didn't do it, Hermione would have to do it later. And Pansy had pushed off more than enough work on Hermione over the past year.

It would have been easier to focus on the work if Pansy hadn't been wearing Hermione's maid outfit. Somehow, even after seeing Hermione wear it constantly in her presence, Pansy had never appreciated just how skimpy it was. The skirt was definitely too short, and straps on the shoulders of the outfit were awfully thin. It gave Pansy the impression that the wispy maid's outfit could fall off her shoulders at any moment. It wasn't just in her mind, either. Pansy's short bobbed haircut provided her with no additional cover, whereas Hermione's bushy hair covered her shoulders well. All in all, Pansy probably would have felt less vulnerable had she only been wearing a bra and knickers. At least no one was there to see her in it.

Just as that thought went through Pansy's head, she heard the door in the hallway above swing open. It could only be Hermione, and it seemed that her "Mistress" had finished selecting an outfit for herself. Hermione had spent the last half hour going through Pansy's voluminous closet. Voluminous might not adequately describe it, actually. Pansy's admittedly wasteful habit of buying expensive dresses from Twilfitt and Tattings, wearing them for a day, and then putting them away, never to be worn again, had caused her closet to be full to bursting. Only an Undetectable Extension Charm had allowed the closet to hold the entirety of Pansy's wardrobe.

Pansy looked up and saw Hermione come into view at the top of the stairs. Her girlfriend was wearing an emerald green lace dress that came down to her knees. Hermione had paired it nicely with a black belt at her waist, and a pair of Pansy's black pumps matched the rest of the outfit very well. Pansy was impressed. Her expectations of Hermione's fashion sense had been quite low, considering her girlfriend's general bookishness, but it seemed that Hermione could put an outfit together if she needed to.

"Having fun?" Hermione asked from the top of the stairs, looking down at Pansy curiously.

"Absolutely, love." Pansy answered cheerfully but incorrectly, judging from the way Hermione's eyebrows rose.

"I mean yes, Mistress." Pansy said quickly, giving Hermione an apologetic look.

Hermione nodded at Pansy's correction and began walking down the stairs. Her girlfriend stopped and sat down a few feet in front of where Pansy was scrubbing. Pansy, for her part, dropped the sponge into the bucket of water and sat down a step above where she had been cleaning. Pansy looked up to see that Hermione was giving her an appraising look. Her girlfriend no doubt found it interesting to see the shoe on the other foot, so to speak.

"Like what you see, Mistress?" Pansy asked coolly, trying to play off the sense of embarrassment she felt at Hermione seeing her in this wispy maid outfit.

"I do, actually. It might look better on you than it does me." Hermione answered, smiling at Pansy.

Pansy laughed, though she got the feeling that Hermione had noticed the slight blush that was entering Pansy's cheeks. She couldn't help it. Pansy wasn't at all used to feeling this kind of embarrassment, but something about being in this position in front of Hermione was causing her to feel quite a bit of it.

"You should just be thankful that I'm allowing you to wear knickers." Hermione said teasingly.

Pansy found it harder to laugh at that. Her sense of embarrassment would be magnified greatly if she was wearing nothing beneath the short skirt of her outfit. How had Hermione gotten any work done while wearing this thing? Pansy could hardly think of anything besides sex while wearing it in Hermione's presence. The question was, why fight it?

"Oh, but I am thankful, Mistress. May I show you my appreciation?" Pansy asked with genuine hopefulness, leaning forward to deliver a light kiss to where the straps from Hermione's black pumps wrapped around her ankles.

"You may. But go slow." Hermione said, rather haughtily, resting her elbows behind her as she leaned back on the stairs.

Pansy began giving gentle, worshipful kisses to Hermione's legs. Her lips traveled from the straps around Hermione's ankles to the top of Hermione's knees. Pansy refrained from going anywhere above her girlfriend's knees until Hermione explicitly allowed her. Minutes slowly went by with Pansy gradually delivering the majority of her kisses higher until she looked directly at Hermione, wordlessly asking permission to go further.

"Hmm. That was a good effort...but I don't think you deserve it quite yet." Hermione said while shaking her head, the smile on her face indicating a certain enjoyment in having all of the power at the moment.

Pansy pouted a little, trying to appeal to Hermione's usually kind nature, but her girlfriend wasn't having it. Hermione knew Pansy well enough to know that what Pansy wanted at the moment was not necessarily what she would find the most satisfying in the end. And her girlfriend wanted Pansy to get the most she could out of their game. So, instead of giving in to her request, Hermione stood up, placed her hands on her hips and regarded Pansy below her on the stairs.

"After you finish here, bring me a snack from the kitchen. Who knows, maybe I'll feel a little more generous then." Hermione said loftily, sounding as if Pansy should count herself lucky if it was that easy.

Hermione then tapped the toe of one of her black pumps on the step below her. Pansy blinked for a moment, then understood. She smiled at Hermione before leaning forward to kiss the tips of her girlfriend's black pumps. Hermione returned Pansy's smile before she turned around and headed up the stairs. It was only when Pansy heard the door to her room open and shut that she was able to clear her head of the pleasant fogginess that Hermione's dominant attitude had caused her to feel.

Previously, Pansy had acted like Hermione's body was something she could touch whenever she wanted. That had been nice, but it had always felt a little empty to her. Now, with Hermione acting as if her body was something that belonged entirely to herself, and access to it was a rare treat that Pansy would have to work hard to deserve, made everything much more satisfying to her somehow.

Pansy began scrubbing with renewed enthusiasm, knowing that every step on the stairway that was clean meant she that was that much closer to getting a reward. Which, perhaps not coincidentally, would also be a reward for Hermione.

* * *

Pansy had nearly finished scrubbing the stairs when she heard a bell ringing from somewhere above her. She was confused for a moment, having heard it before but was unable to immediately recall what it meant. Then she remembered. It was the small bell installed in the open rookery that connected to the attic. It was designed so that owls bearing letters could announce their arrival by pulling a string with their beak so that the bell would ring. Hermione, of course, had always had the responsibility of fetching the owl post. But seeing as Pansy was in Hermione's role for today, it would only be proper if she got the mail instead. Not right now, though. She had a few more steps to finish. Besides, Pansy was not keen on being seen in this skimpy maid's outfit by anyone other than Hermione. Even if it was an owl.

Having finished the stairs, Pansy went down to bring a snack from the kitchen first. She decided against attempting to cook anything, and instead brought a small basket of strawberries with her. Hermione was partial to strawberries, judging from the way that her girlfriend had always snuck a strawberry or two for herself after bringing some for Pansy's afternoon snack.

The letter (which Pansy had fetched from the rookery only after peering around the door to make certain that the owl was gone) was from the Prewett that owned the jewelry shop that Pansy had bought the silver snake choker from. Pansy had dashed a letter off to the elderly man yesterday, having wondered just how to get the choker off of Hermione's neck. The place where Pansy remembered joining both halves together was as seamless as the rest of it. Possibly, it could be torn off. But Pansy didn't want to damage it. She just wanted to give Hermione the decision of whether or not to wear it, as Pansy had failed to do when she first put in on Hermione's neck.

Pansy brought both the wicker basket of strawberries and the letter to her room. She almost walked right in, having done so a million times before, but Pansy remembered at the last moment. Hermione was her Mistress for today, and this was her room. Could maids just walk into their lady's bedroom without knocking? Hermione had always been free to do so, but that didn't necessarily mean that Pansy was given the same freedom today. It was better to be safe than sorry, anyway. Pansy knocked on the door to her room gently and ignored the sense of ridiculousness she felt.

"Come in." Hermione called through the door.

Pansy opened the door and saw what she expected: Hermione lounging on the bed with an open book in her lap. Hermione didn't seem to be terribly interested in reading, however, as she set it aside as soon as Pansy crossed the room. Her girlfriend looked as though she was more interested in the strawberries Pansy was carrying.

"Here is your snack, Mistress." Pansy said as properly as she could, holding out the wicker basket.

"Thank you, Pansy. What else do you have?" Hermione asked casually, taking the basket of strawberries from Pansy and eating one.

"A letter, Mistress. I wrote to the jeweler that I bought that silver choker from earlier." Pansy responded, feeling distinctly odd to be acting like she was visiting her own room.

"Oh? Read me the letter, then." Hermione asked, or more accurately, ordered while fingering the choker around her neck.

Pansy opened the envelope and cleared her throat slightly before reading. She could see that Hermione was curious about the letter's contents. Had she tried to take the choker off herself and failed?

"Dear Miss Parkinson, I was delighted to receive your letter. It's been too long since your last visit to my shop! I have several new pieces that I am certain you would find to your liking. As to your question, the choker is enchanted to separate only when it hears the word Open spoken in Parseltongue. I believe that I mentioned this when you purchased it, but perhaps I am mistaken. Regardless, I have included a phonetic depiction of the word below. Please write to me again if you have any further questions. Your humble servant, Lyle Prewett." Pansy read out, having the vague feeling that the jeweler had indeed mentioned something like that before.

"Parseltongue? I would have never thought of that." Hermione said in a quiet tone that Pansy knew Hermione only used when talking to herself.

"Should I try to speak it, Mistress?" Pansy prompted, squinting at the line of S's followed by an H sound on the letter.

Hermione nodded. Pansy attempted to speak the Parseltongue word for Open, but judging from the lack of any reaction from the silver choker around Hermione's neck, she had failed. No matter. Pansy simply tried again. And again. By the fifth time, Pansy was feeling increasingly foolish as she continued to let out hisses that sounded like the word depicted in the letter, which looked like Sssssah! to her eyes. Eventually, Hermione got up from the bed and looked over the letter herself. Hermione then joined in on the hissing, perhaps because of her natural tendency to want to help, or perhaps because she didn't think Pansy was going to get it. In any case, Hermione was the one to finally stumble on the right pronunciation. The silver choker clicked open and hung a little more loosely from Hermione's neck.

Hermione took it off and rubbed the area on her neck where the choker had pressed against. It was slightly red, but there didn't seem to be any marks there. Pansy was relieved at that. She didn't want Hermione to have any permanent marks from what Pansy had thoughtlessly done to her months before. Hermione, for her part, was inspecting the choker closely, having only been able to do so previously by looking at herself in the mirror. Pansy watched as Hermione pushed the choker closed with her fingers, then spoke the Parseltongue word for Open and saw it separate cleanly. Hermione nodded with a degree of satisfaction, then looked at Pansy.

"Would you like to try it on for a while?" Hermione asked teasingly, holding up the choker.

"Yes, Mistress." Pansy answered honestly, always having wondered how the choker would feel against her own neck.

Hermione raised her arms to slide the choker around Pansy's neck. Pansy squirmed slightly from the feeling of the oddly warm choker, as well as the ticklish sensation of Hermione's fingers around the back of her neck. After a few moments, Pansy heard the click of the snake choker snapping closed. The snake choker was warm against Pansy's skin in a way that didn't come from any lingering body heat it had taken from Hermione. It wasn't unpleasant, it simply made Pansy continually conscious of having it on her neck.

Hermione took a step back to examine the overall effect it had on Pansy. Judging from the smile on her girlfriend's face, as well as the way Hermione traced the edge of the choker on her neck, she was pleased. Hermione then stepped forward to kiss her lightly. Appreciating this very much, Pansy kissed Hermione back and tasted just a hint of strawberries on her girlfriend's lips.

Hermione broke the kiss and led Pansy over to the bed, holding onto her hand. Hermione sat down on the edge of the bed with Pansy quickly following suit. Kissing each other moments earlier, as well as their previous interaction on the stairs had made Pansy quite eager to begin making love, but she held herself back. Hermione would decide how matters proceeded, and her girlfriend was in no rush. She seemed to want to talk instead.

"Honestly, it's a little strange to have so much free time. I'm used to reading when I can. It feels too weird to have all day to laze around and do whatever I want." Hermione said pensively, still holding Pansy's hand.

"Being lazy is a skill like any other, Mistress. You just need to practice it." Pansy responded easily, having employed many strategies for filling up the hours of the day.

"Practice it? It's only going to be for today, though." Hermione answered, shaking her head.

"It doesn't have to be. I know my parents are going to come back after Christmas Break. But we can extend the game until then. There's still a week and a half until I have to go back to Hogwarts." Pansy offered, intertwining her fingers with Hermione's.

"I think the novelty might wear off for you before that." Hermione said, laughing.

"Maybe. But I'm having a lot of fun so far." Pansy said, quite sincerely.

"I guess we can continue then. Be sure to tell me if you get bored, okay?" Hermione ordered, squeezing Pansy's fingers slightly.

"I will. May I make a suggestion, though?" Pansy asked, lowering her voice seductively.

"You may." Hermione answered primly.

"I can tell you from experience that toying with the maid makes for a very fun way to pass the time, Mistress." Pansy said enticingly, lowering her voice still further.

"I suppose we can try that." Hermione answered, smiling at Pansy.

Hermione kissed Pansy once more, then motioned for Pansy to stand up. Pansy did, wondering what exactly her girlfriend had in mind.

"Dress, bra, and knickers off." Hermione ordered, adopting the haughty persona she used as Pansy's Mistress.

Pansy complied, undoing the buttons on the straps of her maid's dress. As soon as the second button came undone, it fell from her shoulders, leaving Pansy only in her black bra and knickers. Hermione smiled at the sight of Pansy being nearly naked in front of her, and her smile widened as Pansy unhooked her bra and let it fall to the floor. Pansy hesitated very briefly before pulling her knickers down and stepping out of them. Ordinarily, Pansy wasn't embarrassed about being naked at all. But something about being under her girlfriend's gaze, as well as at her mercy, was causing Pansy to blush deeply. Hermione looked Pansy over, no doubt making note of Pansy's red cheeks and hardened nipples.

Hermione leaned back on her elbows much as she had on the stairs previously. She then extended her left leg until the toe portion of her black pump made contact with Pansy's bare pussy. Pansy gasped as Hermione slowly traced the toe of her high heel up and down over Pansy's pussy lips. After all of the physical and psychological foreplay Hermione had given her, any touch at all to her pussy felt absolutely amazing.

"Start pinching your nipples." Hermione ordered lazily, still tracing the toe of her black pump over Pansy's pussy.

Pansy shakily raised her arms to her chest and began pinching her nipples as her Mistress commanded. Pansy's nipples had been begging for attention already, and even if it was her own fingers teasing them, they still gave Pansy plenty of pleasure. Combined with the way Hermione was lightly toying with her pussy, it was driving Pansy to orgasm faster than she thought possible.

"M-May I cum, Mistress?" Pansy asked, ignoring the embarrassment she felt at asking that question.

"Already? Well, did you finish cleaning the stairway?" Hermione asked in a surprised tone.

"I did!" Pansy said quickly, surprised at how desperate she sounded.

Hermione didn't respond immediately. Her silence caused Pansy some distress. Even worse was the way that Hermione pulled back with her heel when Pansy tried to grind against it, so as not to allow Pansy to orgasm quite yet. It was only when Pansy kept herself still that Hermione returned to tracing Pansy's pussy lips with the toe of her heel. Clearly, Hermione was only going to allow Pansy to orgasm on her terms.

"I'll tell you what. So long as you're the maid, I'll let you have one orgasm for every three you give me. What do you say?" Hermione offered, smiling rather wickedly at Pansy.

"Okay!" Pansy agreed immediately, her need to orgasm taking precedence over everything else in her mind.

"Oh? I didn't think you'd agree so easily. Maybe three is too generous. Five might be more appropriate..." Hermione said, trailing off with a thoughtful look on her face.

"Five?" Pansy asked weakly, knowing that she wouldn't be able to stop herself from agreeing to that even more lopsided ratio.

"Five. Take it or leave it." Hermione said firmly, in contrast to the clear amusement on her face.

"Okay, Mistress. But please!" Pansy said desperately, pleading with her girlfriend.

"Very well. Have your one orgasm then." Hermione said with a smile, putting special emphasis on "one".

Hermione placed the toe of her heel in between Pansy's legs and allowed her to grind against it. After being kept right on the brink of orgasming for the last few minutes, Pansy was quickly driven over the edge. Pansy closed her eyes as the feeling of her scorchingly pleasurable climax spread from her pussy to the rest of her body. It wiped out conscious thought for as long as Pansy felt it roll through her. Only when the pleasure had started to fade did Pansy open her eyes again to discover that she had fallen to her knees at some point, her legs having lost the ability to support her. Hermione was watching her from the bed with a rather impressed look on her. The slight flush to her cheeks indicated that Hermione not content to leave it at that.

"I hope you enjoyed that. My turn now, I think." Hermione said archly, standing up from the bed.

Hermione placed her hands underneath the skirt of her dress and shimmied her knickers down, which turned out to be a white lace pair of hip-huggers that Pansy had bought but never worn herself, white not really being her color. Hermione stepped out of them and sat back down on the edge of the bed. Pansy scooted forward but did nothing else, having become accustomed to waiting for Hermione to direct her. From the satisfied nod Hermione gave, she seemed pleased with Pansy's obedience.

"Get started, then." Hermione ordered haughtily, spreading her legs in front of her girlfriend.

Pansy wasted no time with foreplay, both because of Hermione's order, as well as the clear evidence in front of her that Hermione didn't need any. Hermione's pussy was already quite wet, and that indicated to Pansy that her girlfriend enjoyed being in control just as much as Pansy enjoyed being submissive to her. Hermione let out a soft sigh as soon as Pansy's tongue made contact with her pussy. Hermione then laid back on the bed and stretched her arms out, moving them up and down on the bed with a languid motion. Although Pansy couldn't tell for sure, and certainly couldn't ask at the moment, it seemed like Hermione was beginning to get used to having the power and freedom that Pansy had willingly given her.

As with everything today, Hermione was in no rush. Several times, she told Pansy to slow down with her licking. Every order was given in a teasing tone, almost as if she wanted Pansy to understand that however quickly Pansy herself might climax, Hermione wanted hers to be a slow, drawn-out affair. As if it wasn't enough that her girlfriend was slated to receive five of them for every one of Pansy's.

Pansy could hardly miss the moment that Hermione decided to speed things up, however. The way that Hermione lifted up her legs and wrapped them around Pansy's head made it very clear that Pansy was to do everything possible to bring her girlfriend to orgasm. Pansy licked Hermione's pussy as enthusiastically as she could, and was rewarded with the beginning of Hermione's usual loud shrieks. This time, however, Pansy didn't need to extend Hermione's climax with anything she did. That was because Hermione took it upon herself to wrap her legs tighter around Pansy's head, as well as buck her hips against Pansy's mouth as she writhed on the bed. After about a minute of this, Hermione released the tight grip of her legs as the rest of her body slackened. Her girlfriend had clearly had an orgasm that was likely even better than one Pansy had just experienced. Pansy didn't mind, though. She quite enjoyed pleasuring Hermione. That was a good thing, considering the situation she was in. Her girlfriend let out a very satisfied sigh before opening her eyes to look down at Pansy.

"One down. Four more to go until it's your turn again." Hermione said in the same teasing tone as before, though far more breathlessly.

"Yes, Mistress." Pansy agreed primly, knowing that a deal was a deal.

"But not now. You'll have to put some more work in around the manor before you'll get the chance again." Hermione said wickedly, as if Pansy should consider it to be a treat bestowed on her.

"Yes, Mistress." Pansy said again, wincing slightly.

"Oh, but wait!." Hermione said brightly, pushing herself up from the bed.

Pansy watched as Hermione picked up her willow wand from where it was lying on the bedside table. Pansy felt a certain amount of trepidation at this, but was relieved when Hermione did not point it at her. Instead, Hermione pointed it at the floor where Pansy's bra and knickers lay.

"You won't be needing those for a while, I think." Hermione said with a small smile as she Vanished them with a flick of her wand.

Pansy watched her bra and knickers disappear, wondering just how she was supposed to get any work done while wearing nothing beneath Hermione's wispy maid outfit. She had zero room to complain, however, seeing as Pansy herself had come up with the specifications for the outfit. And yes, she had previously told Hermione that she couldn't wear knickers while working. It seemed that what goes around was most definitely coming around, at least for Pansy.

Thankfully, it turned out that Pansy was quite enjoying the turnabout between them. She hadn't had much time to think about what awaited the both of them once Christmas Break was over, and that suited Pansy just fine.

"Yes, Mistress." Pansy said for a third time, the smile on her face similar to the one on Hermione's.


	13. An End to an Interlude

Pansy perused the books in the library, looking for the one Hermione wanted. Nature's Nobility, a Wizarding Geneology, was an odd book for her girlfriend to be seeking. Every pureblood family had an original copy of the book. It was extremely important to Wizarding society as it had been organized by the Dark Lord. Only the twenty-eight pureblood families described within, the Parkinsons included, held the immense privileges that gave them their stratospheric position within society.

It didn't take long to find. The fine gold lettering along the spine made it easy to spot, and Pansy wasted no time in pulling it from the shelves and hurrying from the room. Pansy wanted to return as quickly as possible with the book, so as to gain Hermione's approval. Her girlfriend, still very much in the role of Pansy's Mistress, was lounging on the sofa in the parlor. Pansy hurried through the halls of the manor, only stopping to collect herself at the door to the parlor. Pansy opened the door and walked over to the sofa. Hermione was sitting length-wise on the sofa in a dark red dress from Pansy's closet, and as well as a pair of shiny black heels.

"Here it is." Pansy said primly, holding the book to Hermione.

"Thanks." Hermione said, taking the book and opening it to look at the table of contents.

"Can I ask what you wanted it for?" Pansy ventured, quite curious about what Hermione thought she could find.

"Just some information. I've been thinking about the dream world we shared during the term." Hermione said vaguely, already immersed in the book.

"Oh." Pansy answered shortly, not having put much thought into the dream world ever since she had been reunited with Hermione.

"I'm looking for one person in particular. Harry Potter." Hermione murmured, leafing through the book.

Pansy thought for a moment. She had heard the name a couple of times from Hermione but hadn't paid it much attention. The Slytherins in the dream world had occasionally mentioned Potter in a sneering and dismissive way, despite the fact that he had beaten their Quidditch team every single time they played. But Pansy hadn't paid too much attention to them either. Hermione had tended to be the focus of her thoughts when she was at Hogwarts, in the dream world or not.

"Does he go to Hogwarts here, in reality, I mean?" Hermione asked, looking intently at Pansy.

"No, there's no Harry Potter in my year. Maybe he's a mu-, er, muggleborn like you are." Pansy responded, catching herself too late to cover her misstep completely.

"No, he's half-blood. At least I think he is." Hermione said distractedly, seeming not to have noticed what Pansy nearly said.

"Half-blood? There was a pureblood family by the name of Potter, but it died out a year or so after I was born. James Potter was the last one in the family, I believe." Pansy said thoughtfully, trying her best to remember.

"You know that off the top of your head?" Hermione asked in a surprised tone, looking over the top of the book at Pansy.

"Geneology is extremely important to pureblood families. I've memorized most of what's in that book." Pansy said, giving Hermione a wry look.

"Well, what happened to James?" Hermione asked, now giving Pansy more attention than the book.

"That's...not really talked about openly. In the book, there's a note about him suffering some kind of accidental death. But that was around the time the Dark Lord seized power. There were an awful lot of accidents then." Pansy answered uncomfortably.

"I see. What about his mother, then? I think her name was Lily." Hermione said, returning her attention to the book.

"I don't know. If Lily was muggleborn, there wouldn't be anything about her in the book." Pansy answered gingerly, trying not to offend Hermione.

"Well then." Hermione said, somewhat testily, as she closed the book.

"Why all the interest in Harry Potter?" Pansy asked curiously.

"Because I think he has a lot to do with the difference between reality and the dream. He's alive in the dream...and so is Dumbledore. I imagine that Dumbledore is dead here?" Hermione asked, her voice dropping significantly toward the end.

"Yes. Officially, he resigned as Headmaster and died of illness, but among the students, it's pretty widely rumored that Snape killed him." Pansy said, shifting slightly.

"Snape? He teaches at Hogwarts here too?" Hermione asked, her eyes widening.

"I told you, the teachers are all Death Eaters. I was surprised to see that he was teaching in the dream world as well. If anything, he's more unpleasant over there." Pansy said, frowning.

"Hmm. Is that the difference, then? That Snape murdered Dumbledore?" Hermione asked in the murmuring tone she reserved for speaking to herself.

"Does it really matter?" Pansy asked, sitting down on the coffee table opposite Hermione.

"I don't know. It might be helpful if we knew where everything went wrong." Hermione answered quietly.

"Helpful for what?" Pansy asked slowly, having a sinking feeling about what Hermione was going to say.

"For changing things!" Hermione responded in a stronger tone, some color appearing in her cheeks.

Pansy said nothing. She knew what Hermione's personality was really like. Underneath all of the enforced humility of her upbringing, Hermione had a very clear view of right and wrong. She would never be content to keep what freedom she had received for herself alone. Getting Hermione a wand and encouraging her to adopt a more confident attitude was always going to lead to something like this.

"You know we have to do something, right?" Hermione said boldly, looking directly at Pansy.

Pansy looked away. Personally speaking, Pansy felt no obligation to lift a finger to help anyone other than Hermione. It wasn't like she expected strangers to make sacrifices for her. They all had problems of their own. So did she. Except for Hermione, everyone that Pansy had known was ultimately looking out for themselves, even if their actions seemed to obscure that. Pansy's parents included.

Her parents had provided for Pansy all of her life, but she knew that it wasn't entirely selfless of them to have done so. Her father was a brilliant businessman and had totally reversed the flagging fortunes of the Parkinson family. But the fact remained that he could barely be considered a wizard. According to her aunt Minette, a Rosier, her father had only graduated Hogwarts after her grandfather had made a sizable donation to the Hogwart's fund for destitute students. His dreadful spellwork was the reason why her father was not a Death Eater. Her mother was much better with a wand, though she lacked the temperament needed to be given a Dark Mark. It made the Parkinson family seem lesser in the eyes of most of the other pureblood families, despite the fact that they were wealthier than any other family aside from the Malfoys. Pansy had grown up knowing that her parents had high hopes that she would be accepted as a Death Eater, thereby giving their family the respect that had eluded them.

But Pansy didn't particularly care about their plans. She had been formulating some vague ideas about somehow faking her own death and escaping the country with Hermione. Living together with her love in some flat in Italy or Spain was the only future she wanted to pursue. But even if Pansy could persuade her girlfriend to come with her, Hermione probably wouldn't be able to be truly happy like that. Not with her fellow muggleborns, not to mention the rest of society, under the thumb of the Dark Lord.

"I know we have to do something. But I was trying not to think too much about it." Pansy said with a frown, unable to keep a sulking note out of her voice.

"I'm sorry. We can talk about it later." Hermione said kindly, her voice dropping back to normal.

Pansy nodded. They didn't have to start facing the future for another few days. For now, they could enjoy what time they had left until Christmas break was over. Over the last week, Hermione had adapted very well to being the one in control between them. Enough so that it was less of a conscious role and more of a new dynamic between them. Even when they were not actively pursuing the game, Hermione had changed considerably in the last week.

She no longer kept herself ready to respond in a way that Pansy might want, even from a supposedly dominant position. Instead, Hermione would take Pansy's preferences into account before making a decision she felt was best for the both of them. Pansy didn't always agree with her girlfriend's decisions, but the fact remained that Hermione had always been excellent at judging Pansy's needs. Being in the role of Pansy's Mistress simply gave Hermione the confidence to act on her own judgment. The results spoke for themselves: By allowing Hermione to largely determine what they would do, Pansy had found herself mostly free of stress and anxiety over the last week.

Hermione also spoke a little differently. There was no more split-second hesitation where Hermione had seemed to analyze her words for anything that might not meet Pansy's approval. Now Hermione said exactly what she felt. Pansy found Hermione's newfound honesty refreshing...mostly. Her girlfriend did have the habit of acting as if she was always right about things, and now that Hermione no longer tamped down on that impulse, Pansy found herself nodding and agreeing even when she didn't see eye to eye with Hermione. There was little point in arguing when keeping her love in a good mood was critical to getting any satisfaction of her own.

Pansy stood up from the coffee table and moved to sit on her knees next to the sofa. The days where Pansy felt free to touch Hermione anywhere and at any time felt long past. Pansy honestly didn't know what would happen if she tried now, but in any case, it wouldn't be keeping with the spirit of their game. Instead, Pansy leaned forward to give Hermione's shining black heels some quick kisses. It was a good way for Pansy to communicate her interest in a very respectful way. Plus, it never failed to bring a smile to Hermione's face. It was almost certainly why her girlfriend had her feet up on the sofa to begin with.

"Oh? Have you finished cleaning all of the windows on the first floor?" Hermione asked, a smile already forming.

"Yes. I think I might have the whole manor clean by now." Pansy said ruefully, having never done so much manual labor in her life.

"Not quite. But you might by the end of the week." Hermione said cheerfully, evidently appreciating not having to do it herself for once.

Pansy made a face but didn't otherwise complain. The first day or two of cleaning the manor had left Pansy fairly exhausted. She hadn't experienced that kind of physical activity since...never, actually. But after that, Pansy found that the work didn't leave her as tired as before. She could clean for hours now without needing to rest. Which was a good thing. Getting a little more physically fit would not be amiss, especially if Pansy's life was going to become a lot more dangerous in the future.

"What are we up to now, four?" Hermione wondered lightly.

"Five!" Pansy said with some alarm, honestly worried that Hermione had forgotten the number.

"Oh, right. It's so hard to keep track of these things." Hermione said teasingly.

Pansy grumbled as loudly as she dared. Hermione had turned out be quite serious about requiring Pansy to pleasure her five times for every one time that Pansy got off. It wouldn't be too bad by itself; Pansy found that bringing her girlfriend to orgasm was very nearly as fun as receiving one herself. The problem was that Hermione loved to pleasure Pansy in return, but then, after bringing Pansy very close to climax, she would simply...stop. It was enough to drive Pansy nuts. Not that she truly minded it. Being sexually frustrated did at least keep Pansy's mind off of what awaited her after graduation.

"Wait, I have an idea. Hold still." Hermione said brightly, reaching behind her head to where her willow wand was lying on an end table next to the sofa.

Hermione retrieved her wand and looked at Pansy, obviously excited about performing some kind of spell on her. Pansy swallowed slightly in anticipation, knowing that her girlfriend could be inventive when it came to things like this. Hermione raised her wand and rotated her wrist in an odd motion. A moment later, Pansy felt something settle around her neck. She automatically raised a hand to feel just what it was, but then Hermione started to slowly pull back with her wand hand. At the same time, Pansy felt herself being pulled forward by her neck as if there was some kind of invisible leash on it. Pansy didn't fight the sensation and allowed herself to be pulled onto the sofa so that she ended up straddling Hermione.

"You could have just asked me to do this." Pansy said ruefully, gingerly touching the invisible presence around her neck.

"But this is so much more fun! And it's good to experiment sometimes." Hermione said brightly, now moving her free hand over the point where the invisible leash connected to her wand.

After a moment or two, Hermione managed to seemingly unhook the leash from her wand. It did not vanish, however. Pansy still felt the weight around her neck, and now Hermione was holding the other end in her hand. Pansy's heart beat a little faster at the thought of how completely at the mercy of her girlfriend she was. Thankfully, Hermione had shown herself to be entirely worthy of Pansy's trust. She was the only person Pansy trusted, in fact.

Hermione pulled the leash down gently but firmly, drawing Pansy downward until her lips were inches away from Hermione's own. Crucially, Hermione had left that tiny bit of space for Pansy to willingly cross to kiss her. Which Pansy did, as enthusiastically as her climax-starved body demanded. Still though, in what was quickly becoming the new normal between them, Hermione began using her tongue first. Pansy eagerly accepted it into her mouth, briefly wondering if it was possible to orgasm by kissing alone.

Thankfully, Pansy didn't need to find out. Hermione shifted herself slightly until her legs were intertwined with Pansy's. This was a familiar and much-enjoyed position for them both, and neither of them wasted any time before starting to grind against each other. Pansy gasped (or tried to, considering that her mouth was currently busy) at the feeling of, well, anything touching her bare pussy. Two days of teasing, as well as watching Hermione enjoy what looked to be some very satisfying orgasms, had left Pansy's body on something of a hair trigger. It was only the thought that Hermione would prefer them to climax together that kept Pansy from grinding herself off the edge in a hurry.

Hermione, who was still wearing her knickers (as well as having been very well satisfied over the last few days) naturally took longer to approach orgasm. Pansy had to provide Hermione with as much friction as she could with her legs while keeping her own pussy free from anything more than a gentle rubbing. It required a lot of patience on Pansy's part, but thankfully, her week as the maid of the manor had let her begin to develop some.

After perhaps five minutes of this, Pansy could hear Hermione begin to let out muffled shrieks. Pansy broke off the kiss, thinking that Hermione might derive more enjoyment if she was free to shriek to her heart's content. But Hermione did not approve. Her girlfriend's brown eyes flew open, and Hermione pulled down on the invisible leash quite firmly until Pansy was once again kissing her.

Pansy, grateful that she did not pay anything further for her error in judgment, quickly accepted Hermione's tongue back into her mouth. If her girlfriend preferred to french kiss her instead of letting out her telltale shrieks, then Pansy was fine with that trade. Hermione had begun to buck with her hips against Pansy's legs, and that was the signal that Pansy needed to finally begin grinding her pussy against Hermione's legs in earnest.

An absolutely glorious several minutes in which Pansy and Hermione climaxed together ensued. Pansy, who had been increasingly desperate for this over the past two days, was awash in explosive, all-encompassing pleasure. She had the dimmest of awareness that, as she writhed on the sofa, Hermione was writhing against her, with both of them kissing each other like their lives depended on it.

They were both exhausted afterward. Pansy wordlessly shifted over on the sofa so that she was lying beside Hermione now. Her girlfriend still had a hold on the invisible leash around her neck, but her grip had slackened. Pansy wanted nothing more than to take a long nap beside Hermione, who, to her surprise, was in complete agreement with that idea. Pansy awoke after twenty minutes to find that Hermione was still asleep. Pansy then nestled closer to her girlfriend, wishing she wearing something a little warmer than her maid outfit, and dropped off again. She awoke to Hermione gently kissing her cheek.

"So, was it worth it?" Hermione asked languidly, stretching out on the sofa.

"Absolutely." Pansy answered, a touch tiredly.

"Good to know. I won't feel bad about saying that you'll have to work hard to get me up to five again by the end of the week, then." Hermione said, the wicked tone in her voice sounding less and less forced by the day.

Pansy laughed and tried to get off of the sofa. Her nap had caused her to forget that Hermione's invisible leash was still around her neck. Hermione, who was looking at her curiously for a moment, had evidently forgotten as well. Her girlfriend felt around the sofa for the end of the invisible length off...whatever it was, and picked it up within seconds. Hermione's eyes cast around the room for a moment, and Pansy was struck with the utter certainty that Hermione was thinking, perhaps just for a second or two, of keeping the leash on Pansy's neck and attaching it somewhere. But the moment passed, and Hermione instead picked up her wand to perform the countercharm. The invisible weight vanished from Pansy's neck as soon as she did.

"Thanks, love." Pansy said with some relief.

"Don't mention it." Hermione answered easily, with some amusement in her eyes.

Christmas Break was nearly over, and it had been everything that Pansy had expected and more. As a pleasurable interlude before the last part of the last year of Pansy's time at Hogwarts, it had certainly been an entertaining experience. Pansy had learned a few things about being patient, humble, and how to begin putting the happiness of someone else first. Hermione, for her part, seemed to have more or less fully shaken off the forced subservience of her upbringing. Hermione was definitely going to need that sense of boldness if she was truly serious about trying to undermine the Dark Lord's regime. And Pansy knew, as clear as day, that she was.


	14. A Surprise Visit

"You can't." Hermione said flatly, crossing her arms in front of her.

Pansy sighed. It was the last day before she had to head back to Hogwarts for the second half of the year. They had spent most of the afternoon lounging in the parlor batting around ideas about undermining the Dark Lord's regime. Hermione leaned toward attempting to "liberate" a mudblood orphanage of the type she had grown up in. Perhaps her girlfriend intended to shut down the very orphanage she had spent ten years of her life inside of.

Pansy sympathized greatly, but there were a number of problems with the idea. Starting off with the fact that, even if they successfully executed a plan to free the occupants inside, neither of them could shelter possibly dozens of children of various ages. Hermione seemed to think that Pansy had all the money in the world, and therefore could buy some building or something to house them in. Pansy had to gently disabuse her of the notion. Pansy's father was the one who had all the money in the world, and while he might not mind his daughter spending Galleons like it was going out of style, Pansy thought he might have some questions to ask if Pansy wanted to buy some real estate for herself.

The idea was sound, and Pansy shared Hermione's desire to shut down mudblood orphanages, but they couldn't realistically accomplish much by themselves. They needed allies to help them. But who could they possibly trust not to betray them to the Dark Lord? The Death Eaters had informants everywhere. There was no one that they could fully trust. But maybe the dream world they shared over the summer could offer some clues.

In the dream world, Hermione had found out that something called the Order of the Phoenix existed. It was composed of overage wizards and witches who were dedicated to fighting the Death Eaters. If there was anyone they could possibly trust not to betray them to the Dark Lord, it was them. They likely existed in reality or at least did before the Dark Lord seized power. But how could Pansy and Hermione find their real-life counterparts? They had no information with which to do so. There was a way for Pansy to gain access to that information. The problem was that Hermione dead set against it.

"You keep saying that. But what other choice is there?" Pansy asked, sighing.

"We have to think of something else. You're not the Death Eater type." Hermione said with a slight laugh, shaking her head.

"I'm not?" Pansy asked coolly, wanting a little bit of clarification about why Hermione thought it was such a ridiculous idea.

"You know what I mean. You don't...I mean, you're not..." Hermione said hesitatingly, evidently having difficulty finding the right words as Pansy's eyebrows inched higher.

"You're not cruel! Or hateful, or a psycho!" Hermione finished in a rush, reaching out to clasp Pansy's hand.

"High praise." Pansy said dryly, not entirely mollified.

Hermione leaned forward on the sofa to give Pansy a quick kiss, which had the desired effect of mollifying Pansy completely. But it didn't really solve the problem. Hermione seemed to believe that Pansy was too nice to make a believable Death Eater.

"Love, you might consider the possibility that I'm uniquely sweet to you, and not necessarily to other people." Pansy remonstrated, squeezing Hermione's hand.

"Well, maybe. But what happens if you have to hurt someone innocent? I can't see you doing that." Hermione said skeptically.

"I wouldn't want to. But if I needed to do it to avoid suspicion, then I think I could." Pansy said with a touch of somberness.

Naturally, the conversation lulled there. Neither of them spoke. Hermione seemed to be thinking hard about possible alternatives, but judging from her continued silence, none were easily forthcoming. Pansy meanwhile, had nothing further to add. It wasn't as if she wanted to be a Death Eater. She simply wanted to help Hermione in her planned quest to destabilize the Dark Lord's regime. Accepting the open invitation to become a Death Eater that was offered to every graduating pureblood student seemed like the best way for Pansy to gain access to valuable information.

Pansy leaned back on the sofa in the parlor, entirely content for Hermione to be the one to decide on the merits of her admittedly risky idea, when she heard a faint metallic sound from outside the window. What was that? Pansy had heard that sound before.

Pansy leaped up from the sofa and hurried to the window in the parlor. She could see that the wrought iron gates of the Parkinson Manor were open, and Pansy's parents were walking down the stone pathway towards the manor. Hermione appeared at Pansy's side a moment later. As soon as Hermione saw Pansy's parents, a worried look appeared on her face. She was wearing one of Pansy's dark blue dresses. Hermione turned to head toward Pansy's room, no doubt intent on changing back to her more demure maid dress, when Pansy grabbed her wrist.

"I'm sorry, love. I don't know what they're doing here so early." Pansy said apologetically.

"It's okay. Let's just get through this." Hermione said with a shaky smile on her face.

This time, Pansy was the one to deliver a quick kiss to her girlfriend's lips in the hopes of making her feel better. A real smile showed on Hermione's face for a moment, and that was enough for Pansy to let her girlfriend go without feeling guilty. Pansy took a moment to compose herself, then left the parlor through the opposite door that Hermione had just gone through. She needed to delay her parents for as long as she could.

* * *

"Mother. Father." Pansy called out from the top of the stairs by way of greeting.

"Pansy, darling! It's so wonderful to see you." Pansy's mother, Delphine, called out cheerily from the main doors.

As Pansy walked down the stairs to greet her parents, she thought that she could learn a thing or two about deception from her mother. Delphine had no trouble at all acting as if the last thing she had said to Pansy hadn't been incredibly hurtful. Their last fight, after Pansy had dashed her mother's carefully laid plans to engage her to Draco Malfoy, had been a vicious one. Both of them had said things that couldn't be taken back. Delphine was of a mind to throw Pansy out of the manor when her father (finally) intervened. Phillip Parkinson, reasoning that Pansy needed to be closer to Hogwarts, bundled his irate wife off to their winter estate in the south of France. It was there that they remained for the duration of the summer. Pansy had fully expected them to continue avoiding her during Christmas break, and up until now, she'd been correct. So why would they come back on the last day of it, when they knew Pansy would still be here?

"You're looking well, sweetheart." Phillip said with a small smile as soon as Pansy came down the stairs, straightening his dark grey coat.

Pansy's father always favored suits over wizard robes. As he was first and foremost a businessman, it wasn't unusual, but Pansy thought that years of being slighted for his woeful magical ability had given her father more affinity for the muggle world. His dark chestnut hair was cut short, as Pansy knew her mother preferred. It was always amazing to Pansy that her father could be so decisive and forceful in his business dealings, and yet so supine and biddable when it came to his wife. He would generally only step in if Delphine lost her composure, and not before.

"Thank you, Father." Pansy said primly, giving him a hint of a curtsy.

Delphine beamed at Pansy, who did her best to return her mother's insincere warmth. Pansy had gotten most of her features from her mother, which meant they had the same jet black hair, pale skin, and light green eyes. Pansy had always kept her hair in a bob that was level with her chin, while her mother favored a longer style, with her hair straight down to her waist. Delphine's wardrobe was as extravagant as ever, as she wore an embroidered dark violet dress paired with some outrageously expensive platinum jewelry. Her mother always flaunted their family's wealth as much as she could, as Delphine preferred to deal with people after establishing how easily she could buy and sell them.

"Hello, Mother. It's been too long." Pansy said graciously, trying to practice her ability to flat-out lie to people who needed to be lied to.

"Absolutely, darling! I missed you so much. I told Phillip that we simply could not let our Pansy go back to Hogwarts without seeing her again." Delphine said sweetly, grabbing onto her husband's arm.

Her father's slight hesitation before nodding told Pansy that something else was behind their early arrival. Whatever it was, her parents would broach it later. Pansy certainly didn't mind waiting to hear it.

"Oh, but that Granger girl should have been here to take our bags. Where is she? Lazing around with a book, I imagine?" Delphine said with a frown, her voice suddenly dripping with disapproval.

"Oh, I asked her to clean out some of my closet space. She should be finished shortly." Pansy invented quickly.

"Honestly, I don't know about that girl. She used to show some proper obedience, but I swear, she was getting a hint of an attitude right before we left. I hope that mudblood hasn't given you any trouble, darling." Delphine said archly, looking at Pansy with sympathy.

"No, none at all, Mother." Pansy said firmly, settling for a simple denial instead of some choice words she much preferred to say to her mother.

The sound of a closing door above them drew all of their attention, and moments later, Hermione appeared at the top of the stairs in her demure maid's dress. Pansy watched as Hermione hurried down the stairs and gave her parents a deep curtsy. Watching her girlfriend debase herself like that made Pansy faintly nauseous, though she kept it from showing as best she could.

"Oh hello, dear. So good of you to come down. Take our bags to our bedroom, and then I think I'll have a small glass of sherry." Delphine said dismissively, already turning away from Hermione after issuing her commands.

"Yes. Mrs. Parkinson." Hermione said simply, curtsying once more.

"Let's go to the dining room, darling. We have so much to catch up on." Delphine said lightly to Pansy, steering her husband in the direction of the dining room.

Pansy swallowed the caustic words she wanted to say and nodded. If she was ever going to successfully infiltrate the Death Eaters, then she had to at least be able to ignore her mother's infuriating disregard for her social lessers. As far as Pansy was concerned, Hermione was brilliant, kind, and deserved far better than to have to smile and curtsy at the people who heaped disdain on her. Pansy longed to do what her mother was simply too lazy to do, which was to use a Locomotion Charm on their luggage, which would cause their suitcases to make a beeline up the stairs and into their bedroom. Instead, Hermione would have to lug them up the stairs herself. But doing that for her love would draw some unwelcome attention. As she followed her parents, Pansy turned her head slightly and mouthed "I'm sorry" at Hermione behind her. It was all she could do right now.

* * *

Pansy glanced at the clock for the second time in as many minutes. Over the last hour, Delphine had been regaling Pansy with the many leisure activities they had pursued together in Côte d'Azur. It was tremendously boring for Pansy to hear, or had been until she had gotten the bright idea to imagine herself there with Hermione. Suddenly, hearing her mother talk about drinking shockingly expensive wine while walking barefoot on the beaches of the French Riviera was not an occasion to roll her eyes, rather it was a very pleasant opportunity for Pansy to fantasize about being there with her girlfriend.

Hermione had come into the dining room a few times to refill their glasses, and each time Pansy had to keep herself from showing her girlfriend any warmth or kindness. It made Pansy feel terrible to lift her near-empty glass for Hermione to refill without even looking in her girlfriend's direction. But it wouldn't do Hermione any favors if her parents thought that Pansy was unduly fond of her. Hermione had placed plates and bowls of their finest porcelain, along with the silver utensils that had been in the Parkinson family for generations. After setting the table, Hermione had been in the kitchen preparing dinner for all three of them.

Delphine's meandering reminiscences came to a close as soon as Hermione entered the dining room with the opening course. Pansy was quite impressed with the minestrone soup and thinly sliced salmon on bruschetta that Hermione had come up with, as she had become briefly acquainted with the difficulty of cooking over the past two weeks. Her parents seemed to think it was nothing special, however.

"Well, darling. We did have something rather important to talk about." Delphine said carefully in between sips of her soup.

Now they were coming to it, judging more from her father's nod than anything her mother said. Delphine was quite capable of making minor issues seem major and vice versa, depending on what served her interests, but her father was more straightforward. Pansy couldn't help but wonder what her parents had up their sleeves.

"Pansy, dear, have you given any thought to your future? After you graduate, I mean." Delphine asked gingerly, putting her spoon down.

Pansy took her time before answering. She had made her feelings about getting married to some pureblood boy extremely clear. It couldn't be about that. What did her parents want her to say? As it happened, Pansy had been thinking quite a bit about her future. None of which she could talk about, of course.

"A little bit. Why do you ask?" Pansy said neutrally, finishing her soup as well.

"Because, darling, you'll need to do something after you graduate. You don't want to just lay around here, do you?" Delphine asked airily.

"Not particularly, but what would there be for me to do?" Pansy responded, by now having a vague idea about what her mother was getting at.

Delphine didn't answer immediately. Hermione had entered the dining room to gather up the remnants of the first course she had cooked for them, and that was when Pansy's father cleared his throat before speaking.

"As you may know, sweetheart, The Dark Lord is very open to having pureblood Hogwarts graduates join his organization. It could be a good opportunity for you." Phillip said with a measure of forced casualness in his voice.

Hermione gave Pansy a worried look despite herself. Thankfully, both of her parents were too focused on Pansy's reaction to notice. It was all Pansy could do to keep her expression blank as she thought about her response. A good opportunity for her? It was far more likely that her parents considered it a good opportunity for them as well. The Parkinson family had no representation among the Death Eaters. Money could only go so far to buy them respect. But how willing were they to put their daughter at risk like that? Pansy decided to find out.

"But isn't that dangerous?" Pansy asked vaguely, well aware of how much more dangerous it would be if she joined the Death Eaters with the intention of helping to bring them down.

"Not if you choose the right job, sweetheart. Something in Finance or Information would be fairly safe." Phillip answered quickly.

Though Hermione showed signs of wanting to linger, there was only so much time she could take to clear away empty dishes. Hermione picked up the last plate and vanished into the kitchen before Pansy could ask for further information. "Finance" had to refer to the Ministry's Financial Office, which ran Gringotts Wizarding Bank and oversaw the regulation of wands, among other things. Though they sounded like different areas entirely, the corrupt system the Ministry had set up had forced most halfbloods into taking out heavy loans in order to receive a wand, which meant that Gringotts was usually involved. As for "Information", that referred to the Ministry's Office of Information, which determined what could be published in books and newspapers. That and the fact that both offices were staffed with Death Eaters was all Pansy knew about them.

"What do you mean, exactly? I would get to choose?" Pansy asked her father slowly.

"Well, the ultimate decision would be up to the Dark Lord, but I understand that he generally grants requests when it comes to that kind of thing." Phillip answered easily.

Hermione entered the dining room again with the main course. Pansy was suitably impressed with Hermione's offering: beef medallions with mushroom sauce, as well as steamed asparagus and cherry tomatoes. It was quite a meal. Pansy had thought that she was perhaps getting a handle on cooking by now after Hermione had begun to teach her the ropes, but obviously, Pansy had a lot to learn. She hoped that Hermione would save some for herself, but for now, the only thing she could do was ask her father a question so that Hermione would hear while she was serving their food.

"What if I get assigned somewhere dangerous, though? I have to imagine there are some risky jobs." Pansy asked, picking up her fork.

"Maybe in Security Services, but I don't believe The Dark Lord would ever assign someone there who didn't want to be." Phillip said briskly, digging into his food.

"Well, I'll think about it, Father." Pansy said pensively.

Now that the only important topic of discussion was closed, at least for now, Delphine started up another anecdote about their year in France. Pansy mostly tuned her mother out and watched Hermione turn and leave the dining room. More than anything, she wanted to talk this over with her girlfriend. But for now, all Pansy could do was turn over the information she had gotten in her head and wait for this interminable dinner to end.

* * *

It was only once Pansy's parents were in their bedroom on the second floor together that she thought it was safe to talk to Hermione. Her girlfriend was in the kitchen washing the many dishes Pansy and her parents had gone through. Seeing Hermione continuing her multi-hour laboring over a dinner she never got to eat made Pansy feel a keen sense of guilt.

"Let me do that, love." Pansy said rather urgently, picking up the next plate in the sink.

Unfortunately, Pansy's somewhat overwrought mental state was not very conducive to dishwashing. The ceramic plate she was washing promptly slipped out of her hand and shattered when it hit the floor. Pansy, her face reddening slightly, took out her wand and whispered the mending charm.

"Reparo!" Pansy muttered, picking up the reformed plate.

"That's okay, I'll finish it." Hermione said briskly, an amused expression on her face as she gently tugged the plate out of Pansy's hands.

"I'm sorry, love. For that, and you know...everything today." Pansy said with a rather pained look on her face.

"It's not your fault. And believe me, it's nothing I can't handle." Hermione said easily, turning back to the sink.

Unable to do anything useful for Hermione at the moment, Pansy sat down on one of the stools at the kitchen table near the sink Hermione was standing in front of. She watched as her girlfriend quickly whittled down the pile of unwashed dishes without using magic faster than Pansy could likely do with magic. Pansy's brief acquaintance with physical labor had left her deeply impressed with Hermione's efficiency at it.

"So, what do you think?" Pansy asked softly, watching Hermione dry off the very last dish.

Hermione didn't speak immediately. She opened an upper cabinet, placed the dish inside, and closed it with a sense of deliberate slowness before turning around to face Pansy.

"I think you're right about joining the Death Eaters. It makes the most sense now. But there's no way I'm going to let you do that until you work on a few things." Hermione said severely, putting her hands on her hips.

"What things?" Pansy asked with a touch of wariness in her voice.

"Your expressions, for one. You have to keep a much better handle on your feelings. You looked so guilt-ridden and conflicted during dinner. Your parents probably thought it was all to do with them, but the Death Eaters will know something is up if you look sick every time one of them hurts someone." Hermione said firmly, looking Pansy in the eye.

"I...can work on that, I suppose." Pansy said, nodding.

"Second...well, let me start by saying I love the way that you look at me. But in the future, you need to look at muggleborns like they're furniture that talks. Like your mother does, basically." Hermione said wryly.

"I'm pretty sure I can pull that off with anyone else. But I'm also sure that I'll never be able to do that with you, love." Pansy said warmly, standing up from the stool to embrace her girlfriend.

Hermione hugged Pansy back, and they passed several long moments in the kitchen silently, both of them content to be in each other's arms. Eventually, Pansy pulled back and considered Hermione's maid outfit closely. There was no particularly easy way for Pansy to remove it, unlike the skimpier one Hermione usually wore.

"Don't even think about it. I need to wash up anyway." Hermione said, spoiling the sternness of her voice with the blush that had entered her cheeks.

"You're fine, love, believe me. And my parents are all the way upstairs..." Pansy said enticingly.

"Which means they could come down at any time! Do you really want to risk that?" Hermione asked in apparent disbelief.

"I'll tell you what. We can kiss for the next few minutes, and then we'll see how we both feel then." Pansy proposed with what she thought was a fair offer.

The scornful noise Hermione made told Pansy that her girlfriend didn't exactly see it the same way, but Hermione kissed her back quickly enough when Pansy leaned forward to kiss her. Not wanting to proceed any faster than Hermione wanted, Pansy was content to keep her kisses soft and rather chaste. After a few seconds of this, Hermione lost her patience and began using her tongue.

Making out with Hermione was satisfying enough for Pansy at the moment. Pansy was really just craving some honest interaction with her girlfriend after the stilted, awkward conversation she had endured with her parents. Hermione, though, seemed to want to work a little bit of her aggressive feelings out on Pansy. It couldn't have been easy for her parents to talk to her like that after Hermione had just started to get used to being treated like a human being. Pansy found herself being slowly pushed back until she made contact with the table behind her. Hermione then broke off the kiss and turned Pansy around so that she was facing away from her girlfriend, then began to long process of unbuttoning Pansy's dress.

"These buttons take forever. If I had my wand..." Hermione said distractedly.

"Where did you hide it?" Pansy asked, feeling her dress loosen.

"In your knicker drawer." Hermione said with a definite note of amusement.

Pansy did her best not to burst out laughing, as she didn't want to make too much noise. Hermione finished unbuttoning Pansy's dress and let it drop from her shoulders, leaving Pansy in only her midnight blue bra and knickers.

"Because someone wanted to do this here, I can't really afford to strip too. I guess that means you get all the attention this time." Hermione whispered into Pansy's ear.

The next thing Pansy knew, her knees had weakened slightly from the feeling of Hermione kissing her neck. Pansy was never as glad that she kept her hair short as when Hermione was delivering soft kisses to her neck. Softer than usual, but then, it wouldn't do for Pansy to be seen with a hickie or two on her neck.

Hermione reached around her and began to rub Pansy's nipples over her bra. After feeling them poke out from behind it, Hermione slid her hands inside Pansy's bra and stimulated her nipples directly. Pansy tamped down on her natural impulse to cry out from the burst of pleasure that Hermione's fingers were suddenly giving her. Pansy had to hope that Hermione was listening for the sound of anyone approaching, because Pansy was finding it harder and harder to do so herself. Pansy wanted to start touching herself very much, but she kept her hands on the table in front of her. Hermione would decide if and when her pussy got any attention. In the meantime, Hermione kept pinching and rolling Pansy's nipples with her fingers.

Pansy could feel a small wet spot forming on her knickers. Something about having her bra still on (no doubt Hermione would simply say that she couldn't risk removing another article of clothing from Pansy) while her girlfriend teased her nipples underneath it was surprisingly hot. Pansy's previous commitment to keep from touching herself was being tested sorely. So much so that Pansy felt like she couldn't deny herself for long. The only alternative was to plead with Hermione to give her pussy some attention instead.

"P-Please, love." Pansy said breathlessly, knowing that Hermione would understand exactly what she was talking about.

Hermione let out a melodramatic sigh before pulling her hands out from inside Pansy's bra. With her hands free, Hermione was able to turn Pansy around again so that they were facing each other. Hermione leaned forward to deliver a slow, lingering kiss to Pansy's lips before sinking down in front of her. Pansy, despite her active attempts to keep herself from making noise, couldn't help but gasp when Hermione began licking the wet spot in front of Pansy's knickers. She was just hoping that Hermione would touch her there a little.

Although Pansy longed to stimulate her now neglected nipples, she put her hands back down on the table behind her. Pansy had a feeling she would need them there to help hold her up soon. Hermione continued to lick the wet spot on Pansy's knickers, and as a result, it got steadily larger. Pansy kept expecting Hermione to move her knickers to the side at some point, but it seemed that her girlfriend was interested in seeing just how wet she could cause Pansy's knickers to become.

Pansy began to squirm with her hips from the increasingly pleasurable sensation, and Hermione got a grip on them soon after, intent on keeping her girlfriend still as she continued to lap at the front of Pansy's knickers. The small area covering Pansy's pussy, and where Hermione using her tongue the most, was starting to get soaked. Pansy could feel her orgasm approaching, which caused her to instinctively buck her hips. Hermione noticed this immediately and redoubled her efforts at licking the large wet spot on Pansy's knickers.

Right before Pansy climaxed, she had the wherewithal to use one of her hands to cover her mouth. She couldn't afford to shriek like she usually did, and hopefully, that would serve to muffle any noise she couldn't help but make. Hermione's rapidly moving tongue drove Pansy over the edge a moment later, and the first muffled shriek Pansy let out forced her to use both hands to cover her own mouth. She remembered hoping that Hermione would hold her up, and that was when the electrifying feeling spreading from her pussy to the rest of her body completely overwhelmed Pansy and drove all other thoughts out her head.

Pansy had no real recollection of how long her orgasm had lasted. It had to be minutes, but time had mostly lost its meaning for the duration. Pansy started to catch her breath as her orgasm winded down. She looked downward to see that Hermione was smiling at her from where her girlfriend was sitting. Hermione gave a quick kiss to the absolutely soaked front of Pansy's knickers before standing up from the ground.

"That was fun. You might have to change those before bed, though." Hermione teased.

Pansy laughed, or tried to. She'd had a rather emotionally exhausting day, and was looking forward to going to bed with Hermione beside her before heading back to Hogwarts. Pansy, a touch unsteadily, started to put her dress back on. Hermione helped her button it, and together they got Pansy looking respectable again. If her flushed cheeks could be ignored.

"Come on, love. Let's go to bed." Pansy said tiredly.

"Wait. Are you sure you want to risk that? I was going to sleep in the maid's chambers down here." Hermione said cautiously.

"I won't have you sleeping on that rickety cot in there, love. Besides, it's our last night before I have to go and my parents always sleep in. We'll be up before them, easily." Pansy answered, reaching out to hold Hermione's hand.

"Alright. But keep your wand ready. If we have to use a Memory Charm, you're the one doing it." Hermione said sternly, in contrast to the gentle way she held Pansy's hand.

They had managed to get through an unexpected situation, but it was only going to get harder from this point on. Hermione was undoubtedly ready, but Pansy could only hope that she herself was.

* * *

(Alright! I'm thinking about moving forward with the plot as the focus from here on out. That means the smut will have to take a backseat if I do decide to do that. What do you guys think? Leave a comment/review if you have a particular opinion on it!)


	15. A Cruel Test

"Are you certain about this?" Severus Snape asked quietly from across his desk, looking directly at Pansy.

"Yes. I wouldn't have said so otherwise." Pansy answered with a trace of annoyance.

Snape's office decor was putting Pansy on edge, as it was meant to. Slimy flesh-colored things in jars adorned the shelves around them. Pansy could think of no other reason to put those disgusting things up than to make visitors uncomfortable. She did her to best ignore them and chose to match Snape's penetrating stare with a determined look of her own.

"I am asking because some students wish to join for the sake of their image. They don't fully consider what may be required of them." Snape said softly.

Pansy had been expecting something like this. Ever since she had let it be known to her fellow students that she intended to become a Death Eater upon graduation, Pansy knew that some kind of interview with Snape was forthcoming. Although Slughorn was Headmaster, Snape was the one who had the Dark Lord's trust. The reports the teachers wrote about the level of loyalty and complacency amongst the students at Hogwarts went through Snape and then on to the Dark Lord. It made sense that any prospective student intent on joining the Death Eaters would have to talk to Snape first.

"I know what's required. I'm ready." Pansy answered tersely.

"Are you now?" Snape asked softly, after considering Pansy for a moment.

Pansy tried not to blink as Snape looked her in the eyes. She wasn't lying. Hermione and Pansy had put in a lot of thought together about what Pansy would have to do. Infiltrating the Death Eaters to gain access to information regarding the whereabouts of the Order of the Phoenix was too risky for them not to have examined every possible angle.

"Come with me." Snape said, rather abruptly, rising from his chair.

Pansy quickly stood up from her own. She watched as Snape stepped out from behind his desk and followed him out the door. Pansy was surprised when he turned away from the stairs that led out of the dungeons, and instead went deeper into them. Pansy had never been further in the dungeons than Snape's office before. She knew that students who ran afoul of the Carrows would sometimes spend days at a time in the dungeons, only emerging pale and shaking after Alecto Carrow had decided that the proper lesson had been learned. The halfblood students, at least. Purebloods like Pansy were never given anything more than lines to write.

"Is this some kind of test?" Pansy murmured, mostly succeeding in keeping her sense of nervousness out of her voice.

"Something like that." Snape answered curtly, now heading down a stone staircase further into the dungeons.

"Really? I would think being Head Girl would give me some credit already." Pansy pointed out, walking slightly behind Snape.

"Most impressive, yes. I heard that Horace received a sizable donation to his retirement fund from your father before the start of the term. But I'm sure that had nothing to do with your badge." Snape said waspishly.

Pansy clenched her teeth. She knew she didn't exactly deserve her Head Girl badge because of the usual reasons. Pansy's magical talent was unremarkable and her grades wouldn't be anything special if her teachers hadn't inflated them all the time. But Slughorn liked her, and Pansy thought she must have done a good job charming him at least. But no, her father's money was the cause. Of course it was.

Snape stopped at a heavy oak door that was further fortified with iron bars across it. Snape flicked his wand and the seemingly solid metal bars curled away from the door like snakes. Pansy calmed herself as best she could before following Snape into the rather ominous room.

The room was large, and it looked to be a repurposed classroom. Instead of desks for students, there was a large, singular desk near the door, while the rest of the room was empty save for many smaller wooden doors at the far end. Pansy could imagine Alecto Carrow sitting at that desk, doing whatever it was she did when she wasn't frightening students (Pansy had certainly never asked), but thankfully, she wasn't there. The small wooden doors could only be the rumored cells in which halfblood troublemakers were kept during "detention".

Snape walked through the room and stopped at one of the wooden doors. Pansy followed him, moving a little more hesitantly than she had in the halls, when Snape opened the door. Inside was a small chamber about the size of a broom closet. A dark-haired boy was sitting inside. He looked to be a 5th-year, and his gray-colored eyes were filled with a mix of fear and defiance.

"Mitchell Connor here disagreed with Professor Carrow's instruction on the lack of any serious moral consideration on the part of muggles. That would be bad enough, but he used some unwise language to do so." Snape said in a bored tone, looking down at the boy.

"And?" Pansy asked quietly, steeling herself.

"And...it occurred to me that this would be a useful opportunity to kill two birds with one stone. You can demonstrate your readiness by showing Mitchell what happens when he questions what the Dark Lord has shown to be true. A small dose of the Cruciatus Curse should suffice." Snape said in the same disinterested tone, ignoring the flinch of the halfblood boy in front of him.

"What?" Pansy whispered, taking an involuntary step backward.

"You've been taught the wand movement and the incantation, yes? Then what is the issue?" Snape asked coldly, now turning to look at Pansy.

"I...I don't think..." Pansy said shakily, unable to come up with a coherent answer.

"It doesn't matter what you think, Miss Parkinson. It only matters what the Dark Lord thinks, and he expects total obedience. If he gives you such an order, you will have to follow it. If you cannot, save everyone the trouble and leave before you get in over your head." Snape finished coldly, motioning toward the open door behind Pansy.

Pansy turned to look at the door. It would be the easiest thing in the world for her to turn around and escape this wretched room. But if she did, where would that leave her efforts to aid Hermione in destabilizing the regime? The Dark Lord might very well accept her as a Death Eater, but if Snape did not vouch for her, Pansy might never be able to learn what she needed to.

Pansy took out her wand and stepped forward. This was exactly what Hermione was warning her about. All along, Pansy had assured her that she could do what needed to be done. But could she? Pansy looked down at the boy in the cell. Mitchell Connor was glaring at her in defiance. He must have been frightened, but he didn't show it. Pansy was thankful for that; if he had been crying or begging, Pansy knew she could never do this. As it was, she could use the boy's apparent hatred of her to quiet her conscience.

"Crucio!" Pansy cried out, jabbing her wand in the way Amycus Carrow had taught her.

The boy cried out, mostly in fear rather than pain as Pansy's curse hit him. Though the boy jerked in his bonds for a second, he stopped after he realized the horrific pain the Cruciatus Curse was known to bring was not forthcoming. Pansy slowly lowered her wand as she realized her casting had failed. She had not "meant it" as Amycus had said was necessary. In a way, Pansy was relieved. She had done her best for Hermione, but it turned out that her best wasn't good enough. Pansy turned to face Snape, expecting to see a sneer on his face, but instead, Snape's face was expressionless.

"Leave the castle at 8 P.M. on the night of graduation. Wait beyond the gates for me to arrive. I will take you, along with the others, to the Dark Lord." Snape instructed, returning to his usual bored tone.

"Wait. I didn't fail?" Pansy asked suspiciously.

"I wasn't expecting a particularly successful casting. That you made the attempt as ordered will suffice. Keep in mind, Miss Parkinson, that the Dark Lord is far less understanding. If he tells you to perform the Cruciatus Curse on someone, you had best do a better job." Snape said with a note of finality.

Pansy watched as Snape left the room. It was only when the tail end of Snape's black cloak vanished from the room that Pansy let out a breath that she didn't know she'd been holding. Pansy was relieved that she had managed to pass Snape's impromptu test without really hurting the boy, but felt that failing it might have been the better reward.

"Gonna be a Death Eater, huh? Congratulations." Mitchell said from the cell with something of a snort.

Pansy looked back at the boy. However brave he was, he didn't seem to be very smart. And he was getting to the age where his rebellious tendencies would be handled by someone worse than Alecto Carrow. Pansy sympathized with him, of course, but this boy needed to be a little more circumspect before he got himself killed.

"There has to be someone out there who cares about you. The next time you're tempted to mouth off, think about how they'll feel if they never see you again." Pansy told him softly.

Mitchell opened his mouth angrily, but closed it soon after. He probably thought Pansy was threatening him at first. And then, maybe, he saw concern in her eyes. Whatever it was, Mitchell stayed silent. Pansy looked at him for another moment before leaving the room. She didn't particularly care if the boy heeded her advice, but Hermione would have expected her to do at least that much.

* * *

Pansy slowly walked back to the pureblood common room, or as she had begun thinking of it after experiencing the dream, the Slytherin common room. There were many more occupants in the dream version, as Slytherin house had its share of halfblood students. But in the waking world, only the 14 pureblood students attending Hogwarts were allowed inside, and as a result, there were never more than a handful of people lounging inside. As Pansy entered, she saw Neville Longbottom and Ron Weasley in the far corner of the room surrounded by open textbooks. Daphne Greengrass and Lavender Brown were in front of the fire, as usual. Pansy did her best to ignore them as she went, intent on finding refuge in her personal room. Daphne looked at Pansy as she passed, and Pansy got a distinct impression that Daphne wanted to say something. But after going through Snape's sick test, Pansy was in no mood to talk to anyone. Anyone in this version of Hogwarts, anyway.

Pansy felt the tension in her body let go as soon as she shut the door in her room. In here, she didn't have to nod approvingly as her Death Eater teachers expounded on the barbarous nature of muggles and muggleborns, on how revolving society around Blood Status was the only alternative to chaos, and how the Dark Lord's continued guidance and protection were all that kept them safe. It was bad enough to have to listen to that all the time, but after announcing her attention to become a Death Eater, the teachers all seemed to pay special attention to Pansy lately. They watched her reactions in class, and occasionally posed questions to her about Pansy's thoughts on Blood Status and the like. It was clear they were examining her for any trace of disloyalty to the Dark Order. Pansy's responses were always in line with those of her peers, and she never gave her teachers any reason to doubt her belief in their lies. Or so she hoped.

After casting the usual Locking spell upon her door, Pansy undressed quickly and burrowed under the covers of her bed. Not having Hermione beside her was taking its toll on her sleep patterns. A long, heavy pillow Pansy had brought with her from the manor was a poor substitute for her girlfriend's warm presence, but it was something for Pansy to hold, at least. Pansy closed her eyes and hoped that it wouldn't take too long to fall asleep. More than most nights, she needed to see Hermione.

* * *

Pansy was prepared to be confronted with bright lights or loud sounds as soon as she entered the dream world. But the dim light and the lack of noise around her was not too different than her room. It was the slight mustiness in the air around her that first told Pansy where she was; the library.

Pansy glanced down at the table and saw textbooks splayed out in front of her. She leaned back in her wooden chair and decided to wait for Hermione to join her. The only reason Pansy (especially the version of herself that existed in the dream world) would enter the library was if she was going to meet Hermione here. Pansy whiled away the time until Hermione arrived by watching the students at the other tables. The dream world's library was positively deserted as compared to the library in the real Hogwarts. There was never enough space in their crowded common rooms for the halfblood students, so many tended to do their homework here instead.

Hermione arrived in moments. Pansy's heart leaped as soon as her girlfriend's bushy brown hair came into view. Pansy's immersion in the dark reality of the Hogwarts she knew made Hermione seem like an even more welcome sight than usual, and Pansy's impulse to get up from the table and meet her halfway was quite strong. She held onto herself with difficulty, and managed to wait until Hermione took a seat beside her.

"What's wrong?" Hermione asked immediately, her brown eyes full of concern.

"Nothing, love. Just happy to see you." Pansy replied in her best casual tone.

"Come on, tell me." Hermione said softly, not being fooled at all.

"I had a meeting with Snape earlier." Pansy said with her mouth twisting in distaste.

"What did he do?" Hermione asked, her eyebrows narrowing.

"He didn't do anything. He just wanted to see if I was evil enough to be a real Death Eater." Pansy said bitterly.

Hermione said nothing. She clearly wanted to know more, but didn't want to push Pansy to talk any further than she had. Hermione simply clasped Pansy's hand and waited until she was ready. Pansy appreciated having some time to collect herself, and let out a long breath before speaking.

"He wanted me to use the Cruciatus Curse on some stupid 5th-year boy who couldn't keep his mouth shut for two seconds." Pansy said in a rush, dropping her voice lower.

"Did you?" Hermione asked, very softly.

"Yes. Or at least I tried to. Curses like that don't really work unless you honestly want to cause pain, and I didn't want to." Pansy replied, shaking her head.

"Good. But what did Snape say?" Hermione asked again, looking alternatively relieved and apprehensive.

"Nothing, really. I don't think he cared whether or not the curse worked like it was supposed to. He just wanted to see if I could follow orders." Pansy replied, frowning.

"So, does that mean?..." Hermione asked her worriedly, trailing off at the end.

"I'm still in, yes. He said to leave the castle at 8 P.M. on graduation. He's going to take me and any other pureblood students who wish to join to the Dark Lord." Pansy answered quietly, her voice dropping to an absolute whisper at the end.

Hermione squeezed Pansy's hand tightly at this. Neither of them had much to say, but they were both probably thinking the same thing: Failure would have been so much simpler than success. But it was too late for Pansy to back out now. She could, of course, but not without drawing even more attention to herself than before. Pansy's path was now set. Really, it had always been, which is why Pansy had channeled so much energy into keeping herself from thinking about it.

"That's less than a month from now." Hermione observed sadly.

"I know, love. It must be tough for you too. You'll have to leave this version of Hogwarts too, I imagine." Pansy said sympathetically.

"Yes, but I'm doing everything I can in the meantime. I was going to show you something, but it can wait." Hermione said, glancing at her backpack on the table.

"You can show me. Believe me, I'd welcome a distraction." Pansy said, curious about what Hermione had found.

Hermione nodded and opened her backpack, then retrieved an old, seemingly blank piece of parchment from inside. Hermione then laid it out flat on the table and pulled out her wand.

"I asked Harry if he could tell me all of the original members of the Order of the Phoenix. He wrote to Remus Lupin, who listed everyone who was in the Order when the Dark Lord was active in this world. Then I filled in everyone who has joined since." Hermione said eagerly, tapping the blank parchment with her wand.

Pansy watched as names began to appear on the parchment. She recognized Hermione's neat writing at once and leaned forward to read it with interest. Of the 30 or so names that appeared on the list, Pansy recognized perhaps 10. Severus Snape and the older members of the Weasley family were the only ones she knew for a fact were alive in reality. Albus Dumbledore was dead, as were James and Lily Potter. Some of the other names were from pureblood families that Pansy recognized; Frank and Alice Longbottom, Edgar Bones, and Sirius Black. The genealogical books Pansy had committed to memory had recorded their deaths, although the writers were always vague on how exactly they died. Now Pansy knew why.

Some names Pansy knew only from the dream world. Rubeus Hagrid was alive here, but somehow Pansy doubted that a man of that size could stay hidden for long from the Death Eaters. It wasn't likely that he was still alive. Minerva McGonagall would be a very welcome ally, but Pansy hadn't heard anything about her continued existence in reality. Remus Lupin was apparently a werewolf, which made Pansy loath to find him if he still lived. He could be a decent man for all she knew, but the Dark Lord used werewolves as another tool to frighten people into obedience. Pansy couldn't help but shiver at the thought of meeting one.

As for the others that Pansy didn't recognize, although most were likely dead, she didn't know either way. Finding out which of them, if any, had eluded the Death Eaters would be Pansy's first priority once she had been accepted as a Death Eater herself. Then she could pass everything she had learned to Hermione, who might be able to ferret out the location of one of them. It was a tall order, but Pansy had a lot of a faith in Hermione's determination and intelligence. It was her own abilities that Pansy couldn't help but doubt.

"Interesting, right? I wonder how many of them are alive in our world." Hermione said with a touch of melancholy.

"If any of them are, we'll find them." Pansy replied, sounding far more confident about the prospect than she felt.

"What about the ones who we know are alive?" Hermione asked Pansy, sounding a bit more business-like.

"What, Snape? I'd rather trust a snake not to bite me. As for the Weasleys..." Pansy answered, trailing off as she tried to come up with a way to explain.

"They're Blood Traitors. That means that even though they're purebloods, they're pariahs. Anyone who associates with them is likely to be Tracked by the Ministry, which is why no one does. My mother always told me not to be caught dead in the company of Ron Weasley, or any of them for that matter." Pansy said uncomfortably, remembering some of the cruel bullying Ron had endured when they were kids, most of which Pansy had taken part in.

"But doesn't that mean they can be trusted?" Hermione asked, her brow furrowing.

"I don't know. But I do know that they're watched. Approaching them seems dangerous." Pansy cautioned, not wanting Hermione to take such a risk.

"Right. We wouldn't want to do anything dangerous." Hermione said sarcastically.

"Let's call that a backup plan, then. If I can't find any useful information, the Weasleys might be our best bet." Pansy conceded.

Hermione nodded and tapped the parchment again with her wand. Pansy watched the names vanish one by one, and was suddenly struck by how insanely risky their plan was. Most of the people on that list were undoubtedly dead. And they had all been adult witches and wizards with more knowledge and experience than either of them possessed. What's more, they had an organization behind them full of people they could trust, and at the moment, all Pansy and Hermione had was each other. Was it crazy of them to think they had any real hope of succeeding when the Order of the Phoenix had failed?

"We'll be okay." Hermione said to Pansy intently, seeing the stricken expression on Pansy's face.

Pansy tried her best to take comfort in what her girlfriend was saying, but it was difficult. Truth be told, Pansy wasn't particularly concerned with her own welfare. Hermione's safety was far more important to her. If something happened to Hermione, then Pansy honestly didn't know how interested she would be in staying alive. She had spent her early teenage years trying to fill a void within her with expensive dresses, baubles, and various material things in the same way that her mother did. But none of it worked. Hermione's presence in her life was the only thing that made Pansy feel whole.

"I hope so, love." Pansy replied with a sad smile, reaching out to take Hermione's hand once more.

Hermione held her hand steadily, and Pansy felt her worries start to fade as her girlfriend seemed to lend Pansy some of her strength. Hermione was right; there was no sense in being afraid of the future. They would succeed in destabilizing the Dark Lord's regime and free some of the many people who suffered under it even now...or they wouldn't, in which case Pansy and Hermione could appreciate the time they had together, and take comfort in the knowledge that they had done their utmost to change things.

Pansy leaned forward to kiss Hermione softly. They weren't hidden here, in fact they were in plain view of any student who didn't have their attention fully on their work, but Pansy was beyond caring about what the occupants of this comparatively idyllic Hogwarts thought. From the way Hermione kissed her back, her girlfriend felt much the same. Pansy wasn't sure exactly how far they were going to go, but a sudden clucking made them break apart.

"The library isn't the place for that kind of thing, girls. If I see it again, it's detention." Madam Pince declared from several tables away with severe disapproval in her voice.

That got the attention of most of the people studying in the library, and Pansy suddenly had a renewed appreciation for the virtues of privacy. Pansy, with her face reddening slightly, quickly packed her books and made a speedy exit from the library with her similarly red-faced girlfriend beside her.

As embarrassing as it was, Pansy wished she could remain in this version of Hogwarts. But then, that's what Pansy and Hermione were both working towards, wasn't it? A Hogwarts in which being caught making out by Madam Pince was the worst thing that could happen at night. As they both walked out of the library, Pansy turned to share a smile with Hermione, but before she could, the dream vanished.

* * *

Pansy woke up to the melodic sounds of her hated alarm clock. Pansy growled before pulling her wand out from beneath her pillow. She aimed a well-placed Freezing Charm upon the clock on the wall, causing the swaying metronome to stop at once. She could have just gotten up, of course, but that wouldn't have given Pansy the sense of revenge that she wanted.

Free from the tyranny of her alarm clock, Pansy sank back under the covers. It was three weeks until graduation. Three weeks until Pansy would find herself face to face with the Dark Lord. Pansy had no illusions about being able to fool him if she came under his suspicions as a traitor. Her only chance would be to remain beneath his notice. But not so far beneath it that he would relegate Pansy to some do-nothing job where she could not hope to find information about others who were resisting his rule.

Was Hermione awake as well? Pansy had never found out whether Hermione awoke from the dream world at the same time as she did, but Pansy liked to imagine Hermione lying in bed, all the way back at the Parkinson Manor, thinking about Pansy just as Pansy was thinking about her.

Hermione would need to leave the manor soon. They had already hatched a plan where Hermione would Confund Pansy's parents before she left, and Pansy would coincidentally send a letter detailing how she had decided to dismiss their maid, whose name was Harmonie Gudger (why did her girlfriend need to have such a distinctive name?) and encourage them to purchase the services of another mudblood maid. It wasn't the most solid plan, but it was the best way they could think of to keep Pansy's parents from asking questions about Hermione's sudden disappearance.

Pansy contemplated staying in bed and skiving off her first class, but she needed to avoid any and all suspicion from her teachers. She got up from her bed with an ill-tempered groan and headed to her personal bathroom, passing the frozen clock on the wall. As her alarm clock was responsible for pulling Pansy out of the far more pleasant dream world, it was her most despised enemy. But Pansy thought that was likely to change soon.


	16. Graduation Night

Pansy alternated her time between picking at her food and looking at the huge clock that hung on the wall of the Great Hall. The minutes were ticking by with indecent slowness. Could it really be possible that Pansy had only been attending the Leaving Feast for half an hour?

The halfbloods that formed most of the student body at Hogwarts didn't seem to share Pansy's tension. She could hear them laughing and joking at the other tables all around her. They were never so pleased as when another year at Hogwarts was finished, when they could go back to their families and not have to worry about whether a Carrow might overhear a comment that would earn them a trip to the dungeons. Of course, Pansy might simply be overthinking it. Maybe they just enjoyed the chance to eat the food that the house-elves at Hogwarts usually reserved for the pureblood students.

Pansy glanced around at her subdued peers. Whatever gossiping and joking was happening at the pureblood table was clearly forced. That was because for the most of the graduating pureblood students, they wouldn't be going home tomorrow, and perhaps not for a while. For the last six years, Pansy had watched older pureblood students who were intent on joining the Death Eaters stand up from the table, one by one, and leave the Great Hall by the doors that were closest to the main entrance to the school. This year it would be her turn to take the trip.

Pansy couldn't help but wonder who would be joining her. A few of the boys in her year would definitely be doing so. That number wouldn't include Ron Weasley or Neville Longbottom, though. Both of them were sitting at the end of the table with Ron's younger sister Ginny. Their status as purebloods required that they sit here, but everyone at the table acted as though they didn't exist. Pansy felt a little bit of regret for the way she had made no attempt to lessen their isolation, but by the time Hermione had opened her eyes to the situation, Pansy couldn't afford to attract undue attention to herself.

Blaise Zabini stood up from his seat across the table. The tall, dark-skinned boy who had inherited much of his mother's famous beauty looked at no one as he stepped away from the table and walked out of the doors leading to the Entrance Hall. Pansy wasn't surprised a bit. Zabini, always haughty and ambitious, had talked about becoming a Death Eater for years. Pansy had to imagine that he would fit right in. She looked again at the clock and saw it was 7:40. Twenty minutes to go until she had to be at the gates outside the school.

Next to rise was Theodore Nott. Rather tall and slim, with sandy colored hair and a somewhat peaky face, Nott was smiling nervously as he spoke a few parting words to his younger friends. Theodore's father was a Death Eater, and there had never been any doubt that he would follow in his father's footsteps as well. Pansy watched him as he walked through the same doors Zabini had.

Pansy looked at the clock and saw that it was 7:45. 15 minutes to go, and she hadn't gotten up from the table. Neither had Draco Malfoy, for that matter. Draco was looking paler than usual, and though he occupied his seat in the middle of the table, he was not holding court as he usually did. Was he really not intending to join? That couldn't be. Lucius Malfoy was very high in the ranks of the Death Eaters. It was unthinkable that his son wouldn't join as well. Perhaps there was more to Draco than Pansy thought. Or perhaps not. With something of a scowl, Draco stood up from the table and left the Great Hall through the same doors without saying a word.

Pansy had run out of time. She couldn't stay seated for another moment and hope to make it to the gates by 8 P.M. She stood up as casually as she could and ignored the attention that simple action had gotten. Plenty of people were uncertain as to whether Pansy would really go through with her intention to join the Death Eaters. It was understandable, as up until Christmas she had given the exact opposite impression to her fellow students. As Pansy turned to leave the Great Hall, she understood why Zabini and Draco hadn't said anything or looked at anyone else. She was apart from the students who weren't making this fateful trip. Their opinions and impressions of her were suddenly quite unimportant.

Pansy left the Great Hall and began walking down the empty corridors. She had given Draco enough time to be out of her sight, so that she could make the walk with only her thoughts for company. It wasn't like Pansy could really commiserate with him. As far as she knew, everyone else intent on joining the Death Eaters was doing so for the sake of their own ambition and entitlement. They wouldn't understand Pansy's reasons, even if she'd been insane enough to divulge them.

Pansy quickly reached the Entrance Hall and found it deserted. No halfblood student would loiter here, not when future Death Eaters would be walking through. The front doors were usually kept locked and barred, but had been thrown open for tonight. Pansy took a last look around at the flicking torches that lined the marble staircase before heading out the doors into the warm June evening.

The sun was rapidly setting. As Pansy walked down the stone steps to the grounds, she glanced around at the castle walls around her. The only thing she would miss about this Hogwarts was that it somehow connected her and Hermione to a dream version of the school. One where muggleborns could attend, the only Death Eater skulking about was Snape, and everyone was under the protection of the previous Headmaster, Albus Dumbledore, instead of under the miasma of fear and intimidation cast by the Dark Lord and his lieutenants.

Of course, the most important thing to Pansy was that she could be with Hermione. As she passed the greenhouses one by one, Pansy remembered a pleasant night they'd had together in one of them. Although they made certain they were out of reach of any dangerous plants, they'd been less careful with their clothing. A Venomous Tentacula had seized Hermione's discarded bra and had refused to let it go. Pansy was quite willing to use a Severing Charm on it, but Hermione was adamant that they not hurt the plant. In the end, they had to leave it there for Professor Sprout to discover in the morning.

Pansy could feel herself smiling for the first time since she had woken up. Remembering some of the times she had shared with Hermione made Pansy's steps more confident. She was doing this so that muggleborns like her love would no longer be denied the chance to have a fulfilling, vibrant life full of possibilities. It was the least Pansy could do, considering that's exactly what Hermione had done for her.

* * *

"You're really going through with it, huh?" Zabini asked skeptically, as soon as Pansy had joined her fellow purebloods beyond the gate to Hogwarts.

"Why would I be here otherwise? For the sparkling conversation?" Pansy returned, referring to Malfoy and Nott's unusual silence.

Theodore Nott, whose friendliness often fell on the side of being a suck-up, looked to be tongue-tied. And there were no arrogant comments coming from Draco Malfoy. He seemed to be sweating, even though the heat was hardly overpowering. Pansy understood, however. Her own fear was building as she realized that Snape could arrive at any moment, and when he did, they would be transported to the Dark Lord's stronghold.

Her distress might have been as apparent as theirs if Hermione hadn't helped coach her. Years of having to hide her true feelings about her pureblood "betters" had made Hermione practiced at keeping anger or fear from showing on her face. She trusted Pansy enough to be very open and honest with her, but couldn't afford to do the same with most others. Her instructions for Pansy on how to keep her face from betraying her feelings would be invaluable here.

Minutes passed in silence between them. Zabini was leaning against a pillar at the edge of the gates a little too stiffly to be truly relaxed, Malfoy was looking out into the forest, apparently thinking hard, Nott was pacing back and forth in a small circuit, and Pansy was staring back in the direction of Hogwarts with her arms crossed, waiting for Snape to arrive. The sun had fully set by now, and the grounds were becoming steadily darker.

Pansy wondered how she could have ever thought that time was going slowly during the Leaving Feast. Compared to now, it had been racing. Every second was another opportunity for the sense of fear and apprehension in her stomach to rise higher. As much as she dreaded what was to come, it was a relief when Pansy saw Snape slowly emerge from the darkness, holding a large wooden goblet. The four of them quickly gathered around the gates and waited silently for Snape's arrival.

"Only four this year?" Snape asked rhetorically, as if he didn't know exactly who was set to join.

Pansy nodded impassively and met Snape's gaze. His black eyes bored into her for only a moment before he moved his gaze to the others. Whatever Snape saw, or didn't see, in each of them was unclear, as he said nothing. Snape merely took out his wand and pointed it at the goblet.

"Portus." Snape muttered as the goblet turned bright blue before fading to its original dull brown color.

"This Portkey will activate in moments. If you have any doubts, any at all, this is the time to heed them. Only those sworn to the Dark Lord are allowed to know the location of his stronghold. If you try to back out after learning it, he will kill you." Snape warned chillingly.

The temperature seemed to drop a few degrees after Snape spoke, but none of them blanched. Pansy couldn't speak for any of her fellow students, but she knew the risks all too well by now. Pansy proved it by reaching for the Portkey first. Zabini's hand reached out next, followed by Nott's, and finally Draco's.

Pansy closed her eyes and tried to remember all the details that she could of a particularly pleasant night she had shared with Hermione in the Parkinson Manor. She remembered listening to the sound of the fire crackling in the fireplace, of sweeping an errant strand of Hermione's bushy hair away from her face, and of looking deeply into her girlfriend's brown eyes. There was something that passed between them then that words couldn't express, and remembering it allowed Pansy to stay hopeful even in the face of what was to come. As much as Pansy wished Hermione was there by her side, the knowledge that she was in Pansy's heart was enough to keep her hand steady until the goblet glowed bright blue again, and Pansy felt a hook behind her navel pull her forward into the tumbling darkness.


	17. The Dark Mark

The world spun rapidly around Pansy. All she could tell was that the near-darkness of the grounds outside Hogwarts was replaced by a much deeper darkness around her. Then Pansy's feet slammed into surprisingly soft ground before her legs buckled beneath her. Pansy broke her fall with her hands and felt what seemed like course sand underneath them. The sound of crashing waves reached Pansy's ears. They had taken the Portkey to a beach, it seemed. Pansy glanced around to see that everyone else had kept their feet, though barely. She might have been embarrassed to have been the only one who fell, but none of them happened to be wearing heeled boots.

Theodore Nott extended a helping hand to Pansy, who accepted it graciously. As Pansy stood up, she saw that the area they were standing on was the only scrap of sand around. The rest was mostly jagged rocks that extended from the edge of the water inward. There was a small path forward, and Pansy could see a very large structure ahead that was too shadowed to see clearly.

"Form a line and follow me. Walk only where I walk." Snape ordered, stepping forward.

The four of them lined up behind Snape as he walked forward from the beach. Pansy would have been glad to lag behind, but the need to appear eager to become a Death Eater made her elbow in front of Blaise Zabini, who scowled at her. Pansy ignored him, however, as Snape had stopped as soon as they reached where some thin, grayish grass was growing.

"Do not deviate even a step from where I walk. You'll be sent back to your parents in a box, otherwise." Snape warned clearly, seeming to take a moment to steel himself before walking forward.

As Pansy followed Snape from behind, she heard odd, low noises all around her. The space on either side of the straight line Snape walked appeared to be clear, yet Pansy could hear the sound of many tiny objects slicing through the air. If it hadn't been so dark, she might have seen evidence of the way the invisible objects cut the air around her, but as it was, Pansy could only shiver and hope that Snape had the correct pathway down by heart.

Eventually, they left the lethal zone of invisible blades behind. The structure in front of them was becoming clearer the closer they came, and Pansy was starting to get an idea where they were. This had to be the rumored Azkaban, where the Dark Lord kept his prisoners. That he also ruled from here was new information, but Pansy had to admit it made sense. No one could Apparate here without knowing the location beforehand, and it was likely that the small beach Snape had brought them to was the only place on the island where it could be done. Anyone coming here would need to pass that terrifying barrier of invisible blades, and even then, Pansy knew that could only be the first line of defense. The next one was arrayed in front of them.

The air was quickly becoming colder, and Pansy thought she knew why. As they got closer to the front gates of Azkaban, Pansy could see unnaturally tall, hooded figures flanking it. They were Dementors, and Pansy drew her wand instinctively. Like practically everyone else, Pansy feared them. As a pureblood, she had few run-ins with any dementors, as the Dark Lord mostly used them as one of his tools to keep halfblood families in line. But even coming near them in the past had caused Pansy to shake uncontrollably. The void inside her, the one that only Hermione had managed to fill, widened enormously when a Dementor was near. It would fill her mind with thoughts of how empty and desolate her life truly was, and how it was going to stretch endlessly, never altering, never changing, just one day after another of pointless existence.

"I see Miss Parkinson has the right idea. Draw your wands, all of you." Snape ordered, notably not drawing his.

Pansy glanced around to see the rest of her supposed comrades scrambling to draw their wands. She knew what Snape wanted them to do, and wasn't too confident that she could pull it off. Pansy had never successfully cast the Patronus Charm before.

"The Patronus Charm. Cast it. Unless you fancy the prospect of walking by a Dementor without it." Snape ordered, crossing his arms in front of his chest.

The eerie stillness of the island was broken by their shouts of "Expecto Patronum", but none of them, Pansy included, were able to conjure anything more than silver vapor. Pansy knew she had to think of something happy, but how could she? She was at Azkaban, where making it past these dementors would only mean that she was closer to coming face to face with the Dark Lord. What was there to hope for?

Pansy shook her head, trying to clear it. She knew that the Dementors that flanked the gate in front of them were causing her to feel this kind of despair, but that knowledge didn't mean Pansy was free from it. Pansy glanced over at Snape, whose expression twisted the longer their weak efforts went on until they all lowered their wands.

"Really? None of you? I distinctly remember each one of you telling me that you were ready." Snape remarked disdainfully, drawing his wand.

Pansy was stung by Snape's comment, even though it was not meant for her alone. Whatever Snape thought, she was ready for this. Pansy knew this not because of any particular sense of self-confidence she had, but because Hermione had told her. Her girlfriend had said, very frankly, that she wouldn't have let her take on a risk like this if Hermione wasn't confident that Pansy could do it.

The more Pansy thought about this, the less she was affected by the chilling aura cast by the dementors. This was not some internal feeling that could be twisted around; Hermione believed in her. It was a talisman that Pansy could hold onto until her composure returned. As she felt the cold fog in her head dissipate, Pansy stepped forward and closed her eyes.

Pansy did what she could to shut out every distraction around her. Now that she could think more or less clearly, happy thoughts were easier to imagine. The memory that filled Pansy with the most happiness she could remember feeling was not of any particular exuberance. It was waking up from a long sleep and feeling Hermione beside her. Pansy could remember kissing Hermione's shoulder softly so as not to wake her up, and seeing her love reflexively nestle closer to her. That simple, honest reaction made her very happy then, and it was doing so now. Pansy focused hard on what she was feeling before raising her wand once more.

"Expecto Patronum!" Pansy cried out, seeing something huge and silvery burst out from her wand.

Whatever it was, it was huge. As it galloped forward, Pansy could see the dementors at the gates melt away like fog in bright sunlight. Her Patronus turned back to look at Pansy, and she saw it clearly for the first time. What she thought was a smallish horse turned out to be a unicorn, judging from the long horn it sported. Pansy had never seen her Patronus before and was momentarily enraptured by the sight. Her love of unicorns was something she kept hidden from everyone aside from Hermione, but now it seemed her secret was out. Pansy turned to look back at her fellow students, half expecting some amused looks, but all she saw were reactions ranging from surprise to grudging respect (with emphasis on the grudging, in the case of Zabini.)

"Well done. Let's proceed." Snape said curtly, favoring Pansy with a slight nod.

Pansy stowed her wand away and watched regretfully as her Patronus vanished. The sense of peace and wonder she had felt at its presence left her, but at least it had driven the dementors away. With the dementors gone, they were able to move closer to the gates. Pansy now had a clearer view of the fortress in front of her. There had been too much gloom before, but now she could see that a large black tower rose from the middle of it. The tower looked to be of newer construction than the rest of the faded, gray walls of the fortress. If the Dark Lord was anywhere inside, he would be there.

The heavy wooden gates opened ponderously as they approached them. Inside was a long, narrow stone hall lined with torches. Many heavily bolted wooden doors were on either side of the hall. As they passed them, Pansy steeled herself in case she heard any cries through the doors. But they were either too heavy to let sound through, or the prisoners on the other sides were in no condition to cry out, because she heard nothing. Snape walked down the hall to the very end, where a huge man stood in front of a lift. The man wore a hooded cloak, but Pansy could see that his long hair was blonde. He had a bit of a sullen look on his face.

"Lift duty again, Rowle?" Snape asked with his lip curling.

Rowle growled but pulled back a lever on the ground that caused the grate in front of the lift to shift to the side. The five of them squeezed into the lift. Pansy had more room than anyone else, as the rest of her fellow graduates were too polite to press up against her. Which suited Pansy just fine. Rowle pulled the grate closed, and after a moment, the lift began to rise. Pansy was coming ever closer to the Dark Lord. She did her best to remember the breathing exercises Hermione taught her. As Pansy did them, her previously up-ticking sense of fear dropped, and she remembered why she was doing this. For Hermione, and every other muggleborn out there that deserved to be treated like a human being.

* * *

"This will be simple. Enter the room behind me and approach the dais. When the Dark Lord indicates, kneel and offer your left forearm uncovered. Listen to what he says and answer yes to any question he asks. You will receive your Mark, and you can then request a posting of your choice at the Ministry. Does anyone have any questions?" Snape asked calmly, after reeling off his instructions to them.

"What happens if we ask for a posting and he says no?" Theodore Nott asked nervously.

"This is ceremonial, Nott. If you prove to be incompetent at your requested job, your superior will assign you elsewhere. Is there anything else?" Snape asked again, looking at the rest of them.

Pansy shook her head. They had been waiting in a small antechamber in front of the Dark Lord's hall. According to Snape, any Death Eater who could make it without neglecting their duties was required to attend this ceremony to welcome new Death Eaters. The knowledge that the hall in front of her was filled with some of the evilest wizards and witches in existence did nothing to help her confidence. But Pansy's attention was drawn away from her unease as Snape jerked his left arm suddenly, almost like he had been burned there.

"It's time. Enter the chamber." Snape said quietly.

Snape would not be leading them into it, it seemed. And nobody else wanted to take the lead. Pansy certainly didn't, but she had spent the whole night afraid of what was going to happen here, and she was getting a little tired of it by now. It was time to get this over with. Pansy stepped forward to push the door open, and her fellow graduates followed behind her, seemingly grateful that someone else had done it.

The hall was large and filled with people wearing cloaks, most of whom were along the sides of the hall, leaving a gap in the center of it. As Pansy was the first to enter, they had all turned to look at her. Pansy, however, only had eyes for who was in the center of the room. Sitting on something that was clearly more than a chair but not quite a throne, was the Dark Lord.

Pansy had always heard that the Dark Lord had red slitted eyes and waxy skin, but she had hoped that was a tale told to frighten people. It always seemed more likely that the Dark Lord would be a man with ordinary features. But now Pansy knew that everything she had heard was true. How could he have warped his face in such a way? Was he still human, if he ever was? The Death Eaters who had congregated in the hall made way for them so that the area in front of the middle of the chamber was clear. Pansy remembered what Snape had told them and approached the dais where the Dark Lord sat. It was on a slightly raised platform, and Pansy decided that in front of where the platform rose was a good place to stop. Zabini, Malfoy, and Nott took their places alongside Pansy, so that they were all looking up at the Dark Lord.

"Welcome." The Dark Lord said to them in a surprisingly high, clear voice.

The low chatter that had filled the hall ceased as soon as the Dark Lord spoke. He took a moment to look at each of them before continuing. Pansy felt her stomach clench as soon as the Dark Lord's eyes locked with her own. She did the opposite of what she had been doing all night; which was allow her fear to build instead of forcing it down. With any luck, the Dark Lord would easily sense it and look no deeper into her. Fear had to be an expected reaction.

The Dark Lord's gaze shifted away from Pansy, who let out a breath. That he had not instantly drawn his wand and struck her down as a traitor was a good first step. Now she just had to keep this up...indefinitely. Pansy barely kept a wry look from appearing on her face as the Dark Lord moved onto Malfoy beside her. He saw nothing disqualifying in Malfoy's eyes, either, and moved onto Zabini and Nott with similar results.

"Allow me to offer you my congratulations on graduating from Hogwarts. Seven years of education has taken you here, to the beginning of a new journey. How far you will go depends entirely upon your intelligence, your resourcefulness, and your determination. Exactly the qualities most prized by my ancestor, and the founder of Hogwarts, Salazar Slytherin." The Dark Lord announced in the same high, clear tone he used previously.

"I have traveled further than anyone along the road to immortality, but I was once in your shoes. Young, with an uncertain future ahead of me. There were many paths I could have taken, but I chose one that few have ever traveled. A path that was darker, and yet grander, than those with small minds and weak wills could grasp. If you are ready to make the same choice, then kneel." The Dark Lord ordered, pulling out his wand.

Pansy knelt along with Malfoy, Zabini, and Nott. As she moved the sleeve of her robes up to show her left forearm, she could see the others doing the same around her. The Dark Lord raised his wand and swept it above his head in a circular motion. A perfectly round sphere of what looked like ink appeared above Pansy's forearm and quickly settled onto her skin. It had a disturbing heat to it, and Pansy mastered the impulse to wipe it off of her. It wasn't absorbed into her skin quite yet, and instead, it laid on top of it like an oil slick.

"Outsiders believe that the Dark Mark symbolizes personal loyalty to me. They are mistaken. It is a symbol of our fraternity, of our shared determination to free ourselves from the petty confines of common morality, and to seize that which is our legacy; the power to shape the world as we see fit, and to raise ourselves above the natural laws that others so meekly submit to." The Dark Lord announced, his voice rising at the end.

"So I must ask you; Are you willing to take your place among us?" The Dark Lord asked, the question hanging in the air.

"Yes." Pansy answered in a clear tone, hearing similar affirmations from the other three.

Pansy gasped as the ink began seeping into her skin. It was painful, but the sensation that something full of corruption was entering her body was far worse. She bit her lip and watched the ink solidify into a black skull with snakes extending from its mouth.

"I bid you welcome once more, not as who you were, but as Death Eaters. Rise." The Dark Lord instructed, raising a hand for emphasis.

Pansy rose to her feet along with Malfoy, Zabini, and Nott. Applause broke out around them from the watching Death Eaters. Pansy could see Draco's father, Lucius, and Theodore's father, Nathan, among them. Her own parents would not be here. That was a blessing, at least. Pansy's relationship with her parents was complicated enough without witnessing them clapping as she joined this group of thugs and killers.

"Now we must determine where each of you will be posted. Let's begin with you, Draco." The Dark Lord prompted, as soon as the clapping died down.

"I would prefer The Office of Finance, my lord." Draco answered quickly, mostly succeeding in keeping his voice smooth.

"Very well. Report to Corban Yaxley tomorrow morning. Nott?" The Dark Lord asked after turning to look at Theodore Nott.

"I-Information, my lord. Something at the Daily Prophet would suit me, I think." Nott answered nervously.

"The Daily Prophet? Report to Evan Rosier, then. He will see whether or not you can write. Parkinson?" The Dark Lord asked again, fixing his eyes on Pansy.

This was it. She had discussed this with Hermione at length, and they had determined that working in Security Services would be the best place for Pansy to gain the information they needed. It would be a shock to her parents when they found it, but Pansy certainly wasn't doing this for them.

"Security Services, my lord. I think I can be most useful there." Pansy answered, hearing some surprised whispers at her announcement.

The Dark Lord's thin eyebrows rose in surprise. Unlike with the others, he didn't answer immediately. Instead, the Dark Lord looked past Pansy to someone standing behind her. She turned to look, and saw Severus Snape giving him a curt nod. Pansy turned back and saw that the Dark Lord was no longer looking as skeptical.

"Security, you say? Bellatrix has been complaining about the quality of the people that are sent to her. Perhaps you'll meet her approval. Report to her office in the morning. And you, Zabini?" The Dark Lord asked again, turning to face Blaise last.

"Security as well, my lord." Zabini said, the frown on his face vanishing as he spoke.

"Indeed? Antonin Dolohov has an opening on his team. Report to him tomorrow." The Dark Lord instructed, standing up from his quasi-throne.

"I wish you luck with your appointments. Excel, and you will be rewarded. Fail, and...well, I am certain you will not fail." The Dark Lord said with a hollow laugh, causing the other assembled Death Eaters to laugh as well.

The Dark Lord turned and walked behind the high-backed chair he had been sitting on. Pansy waited a moment for him to reappear, but unless he was crouching behind it, the Dark Lord had to have walked through a curtain disguised with a Disillusionment Charm. Whatever was truly behind it was a mystery, and at the moment, Pansy didn't really care. She saw Lucius and Nathan walking toward their sons with smiles on their faces. Neither she nor Zabini had any immediate family here, however, so no one came to greet them. They were likely related to practically everyone in this room in one way or another, but not closely enough to have met more than once or twice. Pansy nodded to a few Death Eaters that had been over to the Parkinson Manor for dinner before she made her way out of the room.

Pansy let out a long sigh as soon as she had returned to the antechamber and saw that it was empty. Part of her hadn't expected to survive this night. Surely someone would recognize some tell of Pansy's that would show that she believed in none of this, that what she truly wanted was to destroy this whole system she had become a part of. And perhaps without Hermione's assistance with guarding her emotions, they would have.

Pansy rolled up her sleeve to examine the Dark Mark on her arm. By all accounts, it was impossible to remove. That black skull with snakes for a tongue would be there for the rest of her life. Some people, she knew, would kill to have this tattooed on their arm. All Pansy wanted to do was get it off. But it was no use thinking about that now. Pansy had to settle for thinking about the doors that her Dark Mark would open for her. Coincidentally enough, the door behind her opened as Pansy had that thought. She turned and saw that Severus Snape had entered.

"Any regrets?" Snape asked quietly, closing the door behind him.

"None. Just wondering how I'm supposed to get off of this island." Pansy responded as casually as she could.

"Anyone with a Mark may Apparate or Disapparate from this tower at will." Snape answered readily.

"I see. Do you have any tips for getting along with Bellatrix?" Pansy asked skeptically, already dreading meeting her older cousin.

"There's no getting along with Bellatrix, I'm afraid. There's only getting out of the way of Bellatrix." Snape answered with a hint of a smile.

Pansy nodded in a resigned way and took out her wand. She didn't know exactly where she wanted to go, but had the feeling that anywhere in the world would be better than here. As Pansy prepared to Disapparate, she saw Snape's face revert to its usual seriousness.

"Be very careful, Miss Parkinson." Snape said intently as Pansy started to whirl in place.

Pansy had only a brief moment to wonder what exactly Snape was referring to before she Disapparated.


	18. The Dossier

"Let's pay this Harold Dingle a visit, then. He and his family live in Godric's Hollow." Bellatrix announced to the room, already turning to head to the door.

Pansy stayed at her desk and continued to plow through the pile of forms there. She wasn't listening to Bellatrix particularly closely. One reason for that was, while Pansy was a member of Bellatrix's team inside Security Services, which controlled the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, she wouldn't be going on this raid. As the newest member, her primary duties were taking care of the "scut" work that the other Death Eaters didn't care to do. Which meant that Pansy's first few days were filled with little else besides paperwork.

The second reason that Pansy wasn't listening was that she didn't want to give her mind any more material with which to conjure scenes of a likely innocent halfblooded family being dragged out of their house by Bellatrix and her ilk. Pansy had the feeling that she'd heard Dingle's name before. He was probably some halfblood student a year or two ahead of her at Hogwarts. He almost certainly didn't deserve what was about to happen to him.

Although Pansy hadn't been on any raids, she did have the responsibility of filing reports about what had happened. It meant that Pansy had to read up on Ministry regulations regarding Security Services, which functioned as the Dark Lord's secret police. The regulations had clearly been written to give Death Eaters like Bellatrix free reign about how they went about their business. Even so, Pansy sometimes had to get creative in order to give Bellatrix's actions a legal veneer in the paperwork she filled out for the rest of her squad.

Pansy kept her attention on the papers in front of her as the rest of the Death Eaters filed out. Only when the door had shut did Pansy glance up to see that the room was completely empty. That had never happened before. Bellatrix usually took a handful of Death Eaters with her, which left one or two at their desks, ready to receive any tips that might come in while Bellatrix was away. But for whatever reason, there wasn't anyone else here now. Pansy stood up quickly, feeling her heart beat faster. This was an opportunity she couldn't pass up. Bellatrix's personal office was at the far end of the room. Any information about surviving members of the Order of the Phoenix would be inside.

Pansy walked casually over in the direction of Bellatrix's office, ready to swerve immediately to the desk of some other Death Eater in case someone opened the door to the squad room she was in. But the room remained empty as Pansy reached Bellatrix's office. Pansy took one more glance around, just to make completely sure that there was no one there to see her, before pulling out her wand and pointing it at the door.

"Alohomora." Pansy whispered, hearing the lock click and the door swing open.

Pansy waited for a few moments before entering, despite not wanting to be seen standing in front of a forbidden door that she had clearly just opened. That preference was outweighed by her desire not to walk into a curse Bellatrix may have cast upon her office door. But no curse seemed to be forthcoming. Apparently, Bellatrix thought that no one would have been insane enough to break in here. But she hadn't counted on Pansy.

After glancing around again, Pansy walked in and shut the door. The sunlight streaming through the enchanted windows in the room behind her did not extend to this office. Bellatrix seemed to prefer a gloomier atmosphere, judging from the dark gray clouds seen from her window. A small shelf filled with bound folders was on the wall past Bellatrix's desk, and Pansy made a beeline there. Each had markings like "Rosier" or "Weasley", which were likely dossiers on those particular families, and more intriguing ones, such as "SS", which had a worn look, as if it was opened quite often. But Pansy had no time to look at any of those. Eventually, at the bottom, she found what she was looking for; OotP. It could only be an acronym for Order of the Phoenix.

Pansy slid the folder off the shelf and examined it. Delicate black threads were bound across the folder, keeping it closed. An emblem depicting the Dark Mark was connected to the threads. As Pansy considered the best way to cut them, the Mark on the folder glowed for a split second before the threads curled away, leaving the folder able to be opened. It seemed to have reacted to Pansy's Dark Mark.

Pansy eagerly opened the folder to a random page and saw a moving picture of a fairly handsome man with long dark hair looking back at her. The name under the photo was "Sirius Black". Pansy remembered the name from the list Hermione had retrieved in the dream, and felt her excitement mount. This meant that the worlds truly were connected in a way that went beyond Hogwarts. The members of the Order of the Phoenix in the dream also lived in reality, and some of them had to be alive. But not this man. Pansy's excitement was replaced by a somber feeling as she glanced down to the bottom of the page, where inside the box marked "Status" were the letters "KIA".

Well, Pansy knew that had to be the case for most of them. She felt a keen desire to thumb through the pages in order to find someone who hadn't been captured or killed, if only to give herself a sense of hope, but knew she didn't have the time for that. Pansy had to get this information into Hermione's hands. But if she simply took the folder, then Bellatrix would notice the empty space on the shelf. Pansy had to think. What would Hermione do here?

The answer came to her at once. Pansy walked over to Bellatrix's desk and placed the folder down on it. Pansy then pulled out her wand once more and focused as hard as she could. Duplicating objects was not easy, and it wasn't something Pansy had any experience at. But she knew the spell for it, at least.

"Geminio." Pansy whispered, pointing her wand at the folder.

To Pansy's relief, a copy of the folder appeared alongside the real one. Pansy examined the copy and noticed two things immediately. Although from the outside, it looked identical, the pages inside of the copied folder were blank, and the black threads that formed the binding did not show any signs of magical enchantment. Perhaps a more skilled witch could have created a perfect copy, but this was as good as Pansy could do. It would still serve her purposes, so long as nobody tried to open it. Pansy stowed the real folder into her robes and placed the duplicate on the shelf, where it looked the same as the real folder did.

Pansy opened the door in Bellatrix's office a crack and peered out. Fortunately, nobody had come into the office while she had been busy. Pansy hurried out of Bellatrix's office and closed the door. As she returned to her desk, Pansy contemplated finishing out the work day while having incriminating documents on her person. There was no chance of that happening. Instead, Pansy packed up her things and left the paperwork on her desk unfinished. Pansy needed an excuse for leaving early, however. Should she claim illness? No. Claiming bitchiness would be far more believable.

Pansy walked out of the squad room with as much haughtiness as she could. People in the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, all of whom were older and more experienced than Pansy, nevertheless kept their heads down and tried to look busy as Pansy passed. Such was the fear that the small silver S pinned to Pansy's chest invoked. They were mostly halfbloods whose lives could be destroyed by a simple accusation from someone in Pansy's position. It filled Pansy with a sense of guilt and anger that she had such power over everyone else, for no reason other than her birth. The only person to meet Pansy's gaze was the witch who manned the greeting desk at the entrance to the huge room. Wisteria was friendly to everyone, and Pansy never knew if she was too dimwitted to act in any other way, or if she had more power than Pansy thought.

"Leaving early, Miss Parkinson?" Wisteria asked lightly.

"I think I've pushed enough papers around for one day. If anyone has some real work for me to do, they can send me an owl." Pansy said disdainfully as she passed the woman's desk.

Wisteria shook her head good-naturedly. She would pass on Pansy's message in a more respectful way, but even if she didn't, Pansy had no regrets. Leaving early would be suspicious, and would doubtlessly piss off Bellatrix. But that was far more preferable than keeping a stolen folder inside her robes all day long. Pansy told herself that was the reason why she was leaving, and not that it meant that she would get to meet Hermione after being apart from her for the last couple of weeks. But she had never been particularly good at kidding herself.

* * *

It was quite refreshing to be in the muggle world, actually. Pansy had taken what muggles referred to as a "cab" to the hotel Hermione had been staying at. It was the best way to arrive at a location in London that she had never been to, despite the way the muggle driver had swerved the metal vehicle around other metal vehicles at speeds that seemed insane to her. Pansy would have much preferred using a broomstick if she could have. She wasn't the best flier, but at least in the sky, you weren't constantly inches away from crashing your metal contraption into another one.

But that wasn't what Pansy found refreshing. It was the way that people weren't looking at her with fear. Words like "Pureblood" and "Death Eater" meant nothing to these people. It made Pansy feel at ease in a way she rarely felt in Wizarding society. She didn't even mind the strange looks that came her way instead. Pansy had the sense not to wear witch robes among muggles, but it seemed that her fashion sense didn't quite tally with what other young women were wearing. Pansy favored expensive, rather elaborate dresses with plenty of lace, and the emerald silk dress she was wearing was certainly of that style. But it wasn't the kind of thing muggle women generally wore around town. Oh well, hopefully, most of them would assume that she had just come from a wedding. These muggle women did at least look with interest at Pansy's pricey handbag from Twilfitt and Tattings.

The muggle driver had taken her to the hotel Hermione was staying at. Pansy had spared absolutely no expense with Hermione's accommodations. Her girlfriend had asked for a simple room at a nondescript hotel, which Pansy had reluctantly agreed to. But Hermione deserved better than that. Pansy, feeling only a little guilty, had instead booked her a suite at one of the most expensive hotels in London. As Pansy looked up at the ornate entrance to the Savoy hotel, she thought she had made the right choice.

Pansy entered the hotel and walked up to the front desk, barely stopping herself from walking past the handful of people waiting in front of her. Waiting in line was not a common experience for Pansy, but she didn't mind...much. Pansy glanced around at the well-apportioned main hall and nodded approvingly. Far from the savage barbarians they were depicted as in the Daily Prophet, muggles seemed to have fine taste. At least the muggles here did. After a couple of minutes, Pansy had gotten to the front desk. She smiled at the woman behind the desk, who smiled back at her. Pansy simply had to give the woman the name she and Hermione had decided on between them.

"Septima Vector's room, please." Pansy prompted.

The woman nodded and picked up a small phone. Pansy had never bothered to find out how those muggle things worked, but they seemed effective. In seconds, the woman had apparently gotten in touch with Hermione on the other end. A short conversation followed, with the woman taking in Pansy's appearance and seeming to relay it on the other end, though she spoke too quietly for Pansy to hear. How muggles managed to send those whispers across the entire building without the aid of magic was beyond her. Eventually, the woman nodded and put down the phone.

"She's expecting you. Room 531." The woman said with a courteous smile.

Pansy nodded and set off, looking for the stairs. She knew there were lifts she could take, but that was where Pansy drew the line. She was not about to get into a small metal box that was dependent on some non-magically assisted pully system. Pansy would take the stairs, thank you very much.

* * *

Pansy took a moment to collect herself before knocking on the door in front of room 531. She might have been a little hasty in deciding to take the stairs. A rickety metal box for a lift, at dangerous as it sounded, seemed a lot more appealing after tromping up five flights of stairs. Maybe she would take the lift down afterward. Maybe.

As Pansy prepared to knock on the door, it opened in front of her. There was Hermione, standing there in a very soft, pure white terrycloth robe with a look of concern on her face. The breath that Pansy had just caught suddenly left her. Could it really have only been two weeks since they had been together? It felt like a year. Pansy quickly crossed the gap between them and embraced her girlfriend, who hugged her back. The fresh clean scent of Hermione's hair was much as Pansy remembered it, although it lacked the subtle vanilla tone that came from the way her girlfriend was constantly reading old books. Hermione managed to shut the door behind Pansy with a free hand, who was grateful for her girlfriend's presence of mind. Having Hermione there in front of her had caused Pansy to neglect any thoughts of caution herself.

"Are you okay? You took forever coming up here." Hermione asked ruefully, still hugging Pansy.

"Sorry love. I'd have taken the lift, but that just seemed too risky." Pansy explained, to Hermione's evident amusement.

They broke apart after awhile, though Pansy kept a hold of Hermione's hands. Now that Hermione was there in front of her, Pansy didn't want to let her go. Their time apart had been made worse by the fact that they couldn't really communicate well through letters. Pansy had, of course, sent an owl to Hermione to assure her girlfriend that she had made it through the joining ceremony just fine. But the need to keep the letters vague and code-like had robbed them of any warmth the words might have contained.

"Did you find something?" Hermione asked intently, looking into Pansy's eyes.

Pansy blinked for a moment and then nodded. She had forgotten, just for a moment, the exact reason she had for coming here. Pansy, knowing her own predilection for procrastination, had vowed to return to Hermione only when she had gotten information that would have been of value to them. It had given Pansy the motivation she needed to take the risks that she had. Pansy let go of Hermione's hands in order to open her bag. She held up the folder in front of Hermione, whose eyes widened upon seeing it. Hermione took the proffered folder and walked over to the edge of the bed in the center of the room. Pansy followed, dimly noticing the tasteful decorations around the room. Hermione attempted to open the folder, but the black threads that kept it bound shut refused to budge.

"Sorry, love. Here." Pansy said apologetically, reaching over to rest the palm of her hand on the folder.

Both of them watched the black threads curl away in response to Pansy's hand. Hermione gave her a brief look before opening the folder and looking at the first page. As befitted his role as the leader of the Order of the Phoenix, Albus Dumbledore was the first member detailed. A moving picture of the old man smiled serenely up at them from the page. He looked a touch younger than the Dumbledore Pansy had glimpsed in the dream, and she thought she knew why. Sure enough, there at the bottom of the page were the letters KIA.

Pansy saw a definite look of sadness on Hermione's face as she took in the news. They had already known it to be true, but still, seeing confirmation that Dumbledore was indeed dead had to be hard for Hermione to take. In the dream world, no one championed the rights of muggleborns more than Albus Dumbledore. Pansy squeezed Hermione's shoulder consolingly, and received a weak smile in response. Hermione then turned the page to reveal a picture of Alastor Moody.

Pansy didn't need to read the status box at the bottom of the page to know that he was dead. Every day for the past week, Pansy walked by a large emblem at the fountain in the center of the Ministry lobby that commemorated the Dark Lord's victory at the "battle" of the Ministry. From what Pansy had heard, all Ministry employees had been given an ultimatum after the Order had been destroyed: Pledge loyalty to the Dark Lord or be killed. Most had chosen to swear loyalty, but the Auror Office, led by Bartemous Crouch, had chosen to fight. Moody was among those who had fought and died there.

Hermione turned the page to reveal a picture of James Potter. Neither of them needed this dossier to know that he was dead too. Hermione sighed softly and turned the page to reveal a photo of Sirius Black. Dead as well. Hermione made an angry noise before turning the next page with a bit more force than was necessary. Pansy squeezed Hermione's shoulder again, trying to calm her down, when circumstances did that for her. For on the next page was a picture of Remus Lupin, and inside the status box was something they hadn't seen before: the words "At Large".

Hermione gave Pansy an excited look, which Pansy returned with a little less enthusiasm on her end. Of course it had to be the werewolf who was still alive. Nevertheless, Pansy joined Hermione in reading the handwritten notes at the bottom of the page. Pansy instantly recognized Bellatrix's jagged, forceful writing.

"Pettigrew gave us all the information we needed to capture this one, but the incompetents who were sent to do it botched it. He was last seen at the edge of the Caledonian Forest a week after we took control of the Ministry. The Dark Lord offered Fenrir Greyback a Mark if he could capture Lupin, but to no one's surprise, he's failed. As far as I'm concerned, Lupin can stay in that forest forever. I am in no hurry for that beast to join our ranks."

"The Caledonian Forest. That's a natural rainforest in Scotland. But it goes on for miles and miles. I don't know how we would find him." Hermione said worriedly, frowning.

"Or if we want to find him." Pansy remarked softly, instantly loathing the idea of her girlfriend wandering around a dark forest whilst looking for a werewolf.

"He's a perfectly decent man. Just because he's a werewolf doesn't mean he's some kind of monster!" Hermione said heatedly, for the first time tonight looking a little cross at Pansy.

Pansy's first impulse was to let out a sarcastic remark, but she managed to stop herself. Fighting with Hermione was not at all what she wanted to do. Besides, Pansy had learned that her upbringing had given her a skewed perspective on a lot of marginalized groups. Werewolves hardly seemed worthy of sympathy, but Pansy had thought the same about others before. The fact that Pansy's viewpoint here was near to what Bellatrix Lestrange thought was a good indication that she was wrong.

"I'm sorry, love. Really. If you say he's alright, then he's alright." Pansy said in rapprochement, punctuating her words with a kiss on Hermione's shoulder.

Hermione's momentary anger faded. The quick nod that followed let Pansy know that the issue had been settled between them. Hermione turned the page once more in the hopes of finding others who were alive. But the next few pages were of no help. Elphias Doge, Dedalus Diggle, and Sturgis Podmore were all dead. It wasn't until they had reached Aberforth Dumbledore that they found another member who was still alive, at least according to this dossier. Pansy and Hermione bent down to read the notes Bellatrix had written.

"Don't let the Dumbledore name fool you. This man is barely a shadow of his brother. True, he did escape Macnair in Hogsmeade, but I imagine that any of his goats could have done the same. We learned our lesson there; never send a dogcatcher to track down an Order member. We found out that he smuggled himself out of the country sometime afterward. Good riddance."

"Out of the country? We'll need more to go on than that." Hermione said with a sigh.

The next two pages were for Frank and Alice Longbottom. After seeing the KIA's in their respective status boxes, Pansy and Hermione passed over them quickly. After them, however, was Rubeus Hagrid. Hermione let out an excited noise as she saw that Hagrid was alive. Pansy was more amazed than pleased at this development. How had he possibly escaped capture? Once again, Bellatrix's notes gave them some answers.

"This freak of nature absorbed curses that would have killed any other man. I myself sent one of Snape's slashing spells at him, hoping that perhaps the physical aspect of the spell would be more effective, but it was in vain. He escaped into the Forbidden Forest when we took control of Hogwarts and hasn't been seen since. We'd need a battalion of Death Eaters to comb through there and find him, and that oaf just isn't worth the trouble. If he ever comes out though, we won't be as gentle as before."

"Hagrid's alive! And he's in the Forbidden Forest!" Hermione exclaimed, looking more excited than ever before.

"That might be a good place to start. But let's see if anyone else had made it." Pansy cautioned, motioning for Hermione to keep going through the dossier.

A streak of unfortunately dead members followed. It wasn't until they reached Emmeline Vance that they found another living member. The photo on the page was of a tall, stately witch with short curly hair. Pansy read the notes Bellatrix had made at the bottom with a little more interest this time.

"Vance eluded Dolohov in Diagon Alley, as well as Travers at King's Cross. The fools. We've only seen glimpses since, but she remains in the country. Vance was spotted last year in the muggle town of Little Hangleton. For whatever reason, the Dark Lord took a personal interest then. On his orders, we turned that town upside-down looking for her, to no avail. But no matter. She'll make a mistake one of these days."

"I've never heard of Little Hangleton. And why would the Dark Lord care about her then?" Hermione said pensively.

"No idea, love. But that town is probably the last place in the world that you'd find her now. Let's see if there's anyone else." Pansy reasoned gently.

But there was no one else. The last three names on the list, Benjy Fenwick, Dorcas Meadowes, and Lily Potter were all marked deceased. Although Lily Potter's page had a curious detail. After the letters KIA in the status box, Bellatrix had written in a question mark. Pansy and Hermione shared a glance after seeing this. Did Bellatrix have some reason to believe that Lily Potter wasn't actually dead? Clearly, some Death Eater had reported that she was killed. Why would Bellatrix doubt them? Unfortunately, there were no notes on Lily's page that would explain Bellatrix's thinking. And a question mark, intriguing as it was, wasn't nearly enough for them to go on.

"Well, that's it then. Remus Lupin, Aberforth Dumbledore, Rubeus Hagrid, Emmeline Vance, and maybe Lily Potter." Pansy summed up frankly.

"I was hoping for more." Hermione remarked sadly, still looking at Lily Potter's smiling picture.

"Whereas I'm surprised that there are so many. I thought there'd be one living member, maybe two. Four is huge, and it may even be five." Pansy said encouragingly.

Hermione nodded and after a moment, closed the folder. She sighed before leaning back on the bed. Pansy was quick to join her, though she did nothing more than curl up next to her girlfriend. Hearing about what had happened to most of the Order members had put a lid on the desire she had felt for Hermione when she had first opened the door. Pansy could only assume that Hermione felt similarly.

"How did you get your hands on this? Was it dangerous?" Hermione asked gently, leaning into Pansy on the bed.

"Only if you call breaking into Bellatrix Lestrange's office dangerous." Pansy said with a rueful smile.

"You've been taking all these risks. And I've been sitting back, watching muggle TV and eating Macadamia nuts." Hermione said sternly, frowning at herself.

"Please, love, if anyone deserved a break, it's you." Pansy said soothingly, though she did glance around to see if any of these nuts were within reach, without any luck.

"Well, I've certainly had one. But it's time to get to work. First thing in the morning, I'm heading out to the Forbidden Forest. It's going to take time to get there, but it's the best lead we have." Hermione said firmly as she took a look at the digital clock on the bedside table.

"I understand, love. I just wish I could go with you." Pansy said sadly but truthfully, even though she and the outdoors were fairly estranged.

"You're here now. We just have to make the best of the time we have." Hermione remarked lightly, turning to look at Pansy with a glimmer of interest.

Hermione leaned forward to kiss Pansy, who felt her desire for her girlfriend returning rapidly. The light kisses Hermione offered were not quite enough to satisfy Pansy, but she kept a hold of herself. When Pansy was directing things, they were good, but it was electric between them when Hermione was the one in control. They didn't need to say anything to communicate here. Hermione's gentle kisses were her way of letting Pansy decide whether to take control or not, and the way Pansy wordlessly declined to do so would be easily picked up by her girlfriend. Hermione's kisses quickly became more forceful, until she broke apart from Pansy.

"Turn around so I can unbutton you." Hermione ordered a touch breathlessly.

Pansy quickly complied, rolling over so that she was face down on the bed. She folded her arms underneath her cheek and turned to watch Hermione lean over and begin unbuttoning the back of her dress. This dynamic between them definitely tested Pansy's burgeoning sense of patience. Hermione was wearing a soft terrycloth robe. Pansy could have untied it easily, and her suddenly powerful curiosity about what Hermione might be wearing underneath would have been satisfied. Instead, she had chosen to have Hermione be the one to dictate the pace between them, and was now entirely at the mercy of Hermione's deft fingers. In no time at all, and in fact, much faster than Pansy could have done it herself, Hermione had Pansy's dress unbuttoned.

"Someone was expecting to have fun. What would have happened if I wasn't in the mood?" Hermione asked with a laugh, looking at the back of the brand new sapphire-colored lace bra Pansy was wearing.

"Then I would have been keenly disappointed, love." Pansy answered readily, meeting Hermione's amused look with a smile of her own.

"Well, we wouldn't want that." Hermione whispered naughtily, bending down to unhook Pansy's bra.

Pansy breath caught as she felt her the hooks on her bra separate. She remembered having Hermione in this position almost a year ago. But at least her girlfriend's copious amount of hair had provided her with some covering. Pansy's bobbed hair, on the other hand, made it so that the smooth skin on her back was entirely exposed. Hermione wasted no time in delivering lingering kisses there, and each one made Pansy squirm in anticipation.

Hermione's lips were busy, but that meant that she could use her hands to pull Pansy's dress down further. Pansy felt her green dress slipping off her shoulders and down her back. Hermione, with a little help from Pansy, shimmied it off of her completely after a moment or two, leaving Pansy in just her knickers, which, needless to say, matched her sapphire bra perfectly.

Pansy turned on the bed so that she was facing Hermione. The fact that she was nearly naked while her girlfriend had kept her robe on seemed a little unfair to Pansy, but evidently, Hermione wasn't too concerned with that. Her girlfriend leaned down and began delivering the deep, passionate kisses Pansy had been craving earlier. The feeling of Hermione's tongue inside her mouth was a powerful pull on her focus, but Pansy was still able to notice where Hermione's hands were going. Her girlfriend's right hand had rested against Pansy's cheek at first, but then began to trace its way down Pansy's body. After a brief stop at her nipples, which made Pansy squirm underneath her girlfriend, Hermione continued downward to Pansy's knickers.

Pansy expected Hermione to take some time to tease her with some overly gentle rubbing, but was pleasantly surprised when Hermione slipped her hand inside Pansy's knickers. Pansy let out a gasp that was entirely muffled by her girlfriend's tongue as Hermione began stimulating Pansy's clit. The feeling of Hermione's fingers pinching and rolling the extremely sensitive nub there overwhelmed Pansy completely. The way that Pansy squeezed her thighs around Hermione's hand was entirely instinctive, because, in her current condition, abstract thinking was out of the question.

In no time at all, Pansy was being brought to climax. Before she lost the ability to think completely, Pansy realized that it was going to be a powerful one. Her body seemed to respond to Hermione in a deep, entirely welcoming way. It wasn't just her girlfriend's fingers or her tongue, either. It was everything about Hermione, from the way the strands of her love's long, bushy hair tickled Pansy's bare skin, to the way that Hermione perfectly matched the rhythm of Pansy's hips as she helplessly grinded herself against her girlfriend's hand.

Pansy's climax rolled through her like a tidal wave. Time lost most of its meaning while it was crashing through her. Everything outside of Hermione's extremely welcome presence and the explosive feeling inside Pansy's body was pushed away. Pansy's orgasm winded down eventually, though it felt like it lasted an hour or more. It was just a trick of her mind, though, as Pansy saw that the sun had barely shifted outside the window of their hotel room. At some point, Hermione had broken their long kiss and had pushed herself up to watch Pansy squirming beneath her.

"Sorry, I know you like it when I tease you for awhile, but honestly, I couldn't wait forever." Hermione said briskly, untying the sash on her robe.

Pansy might have disputed her girlfriend's characterization of how she felt at being suspended on the tiny, torturous edge right before orgasming, but found that she didn't have the words. Fully taking in the sight of Hermione in her lilac bra and knickers was suddenly far more important. In particular, the wet spot in front of her girlfriend's knickers captivated Pansy, though seeing the way that Hermione's nipples made clear indentations through her bra was a close second.

Hermione unhooked her bra and shimmied her knickers down her legs, pulling them off with a smooth motion before she crawled forward to where Pansy was on the bed. Hermione took a moment to bend down to give her a lingering kiss. Pansy, who was, after all, just as in-tune with her girlfriend's body as the other way around, knew what Hermione wanted. Ever since the first time Pansy had encouraged Hermione to ride her tongue, it had become her girlfriend's favorite position. Sure enough, as soon as Hermione broke their kiss, her girlfriend began to crawl forward and didn't stop until she settled her thighs on both sides of Pansy's head.

Pansy was quick to return the favor Hermione had given her. She wasted no time in using her tongue to stimulate Hermione's pussy and was rewarded with an instant moan of satisfaction from her girlfriend. As Pansy kept licking, she reflected a little on why Hermione seemed to enjoy this position so much. It had to give Hermione a clear sense of control. Though she was currently at the mercy of the motions of Pansy's tongue, at any time Hermione could begin moving her hips and forcing Pansy to put all of her efforts into keeping her tongue in contact with her girlfriend's pussy, thereby seizing control whenever she wanted it.

Though Hermione was usually more patient, today it seemed that she had little to spare. After less than a minute of Pansy's licking, Hermione began moving her hips back and forth, as well as pinching her nipples with her fingers. Soon enough, all Pansy could do was keep up with the speed that Hermione was dictating. That speed became faster and faster as Hermione began to arch her back and let loose with her expected shrieks. Perhaps that was another reason why Hermione liked this position; Pansy was in no position to muffle them. In any case, Pansy could only hope that the walls of this hotel were quite thick, otherwise, guests in the adjoining rooms would be getting treated to the sound of Hermione climaxing.

Hermione's orgasm lasted for several minutes, extended as it was by Pansy's tongue, which never left Hermione's clit for a second. It was only when her girlfriend's cries started to fade that Pansy gave her tongue a break. Hermione's hair had managed to frizz out considerably in the intervening minutes. The exact mechanism for how that happened eluded Pansy, whose hair was always perfectly straight no matter what. But all Pansy cared about now was that Hermione never looked as beautiful as she did when she had just been given a very satisfying orgasm. Having given her tongue some rest, Pansy began delivering the lightest of licks to Hermione's now ultra-sensitive pussy. As expected, Hermione's eyes flicked open at the contact, and she looked down at Pansy with exasperation.

"Maybe in an hour or two. Move over." Hermione told her tiredly, looking as if she planned to spend that time sleeping.

Pansy complied, shifting herself over to one side of the bed. Hermione laid down in a heap on the other side. Her girlfriend seemed to be in no condition to get up right now, so Pansy was the one to pull the covers over them. Hermione settled against Pansy at once and closed her eyes. Pansy wasn't as tired as she was, but it didn't really matter. Awake or asleep, Pansy treasured any time she had together with Hermione. The warm presence of her girlfriend soothed Pansy's psyche in a way that she could never define, but she didn't need to. Pansy had her love sleeping next to her, and she needed nothing else.


	19. Views From A Rooftop

With a loud "crack", Pansy Apparated onto a deserted alley in London. The mask she was wearing narrowed her vision slightly, which forced her to wheel around with her wand raised, looking for any signs of a trap. There seemed to be no one within sight, but Pansy didn't let her guard down. She had purposely Apparated several blocks away from her intended destination.

It had been over a month since the night Pansy was together with Hermione in her hotel room. The next day, Hermione had set off for the Forbidden Forest to find Rubeus Hagrid, while Pansy had regretfully returned to her job in Security Services. To Pansy's displeasure, the time in which she had been stuck with working through endless piles of paperwork had ended. It seemed that by blowing it off and seeming to demand real work to do, she had impressed Bellatrix a little bit. Pansy's dubious reward was to be invited along with the other Death Eaters in her squad when it came time to blast through someone's door.

Every one of those occasions was marked in Pansy's memory now. So far, she had just been given the job of guarding the exits and maintaining a perimeter around the house while Bellatrix and the rest of them busted in. Pansy usually didn't see anything, but the sound of surprised screams and pleading were enough to haunt her. The one exception to this was the time when a young man had broken a second-story window and jumped out of the house in a desperate attempt to escape. Pansy had frozen up, caught between wanting to help him escape and knowing that she couldn't afford to look incompetent if she wanted to keep position here. It ended with Pansy Stunning him before he could raise his wand at her. Pansy felt awful about it, and the way that the rest of the squad had congratulated her over it made her feel even worse.

Not that Pansy had let her emotions show. The only thing that gave Pansy solace was that she had maintained her privileged access to information that could eventually bring down the horrible system she had become enmeshed in. But that would depend on Hermione finding allies for them. And the only one they had a real lead on was Rubeus Hagrid.

Precisely how her love would find Hagrid when Bellatrix concluded that a large force would be needed was unclear, but Pansy had complete faith in Hermione's abilities. That faith had been confirmed when, a week later, Hermione had sent her a cryptic letter saying that she had "made contact". But more than three weeks had gone by until Pansy had received another owl giving her the time and place for a meeting.

As anxious as Pansy was to meet Hermione again, she was well aware of the possible danger here. Hermione could have been captured and forced to send that letter. Any of the supposedly fugitive Order members could be informants for the Death Eaters. In any case, Pansy wasn't going to make it easy for someone to identify her. She had put on her hooded Death Eater cloak and mask and had examined herself closely in the mirror afterward. Every Death Eater mask, despite looking too small to cover a face completely, was enchanted to extend itself to meet the fabric of the hooded cloak it was intended to be worn with. No one would be able to make out any features on Pansy's face. Her voice could be distorted with a fairly simple spell that would make her sound barely human. The only problem was the cloak. It was hardly form fitting, but it would be obvious that the wearer was a woman. That was a slight issue. Male Death Eaters outnumbered female ones by about four to one. Just catching a glimpse of Pansy in the cloak would narrow it down significantly for anyone who wanted to find out who she was. Some Polyjuice Potion would have solved that issue, but Pansy hadn't paid nearly enough attention in Potions to be confident of being able to brew it herself.

After making completely certain that no one was around, Pansy let out a breath. She would make her way slowly to the meeting point, looking for signs of an ambush every step of the way. A Disillusionment Charm would be helpful for keeping herself out of sight, and thankfully, Pansy was quite good at casting them. She would stick to the shadows, and by doing so, would keep herself nearly invisible.

"Decepticus." Pansy whispered, pointing her wand in the air and twirling it around, feeling the effects of the charm settle around her like rope falling in a circle.

Pansy couldn't tell the darkness of her cloak apart from the darkened alleyway. It made her feel safe enough to step out of the alleyway and onto the street. It was past midnight in a rather slum-like corner of London. Here, it felt like the constant stories in the Daily Prophet about muggles assaulting and mugging each other might have a little more truth to them than in most places. The buildings seemed quite run-down, and the warehouse that Pansy had been directed to was probably no different.

As Pansy walked down the street, making a wide berth around lamp posts, she passed no one. It was a little odd, really. Pansy could hear the sound of cars and people walking from further away, but there was absolutely no one on this street. Did the people who live here think it was too dangerous to walk around at night? The only living thing that Pansy saw was a cat sitting on a low wall. It had curious, spectacle-shaped markings around its eyes, and it seemed to be watching her despite the charm Pansy had cast. Evidently, cat eyes were more difficult to fool. It slinked away as soon as Pansy drew near to it.

The warehouse was just around the corner. Pansy slowed her pace down significantly now. At certain points, Pansy would find a particularly dark spot on the street and stop moving entirely. After a minute or two of careful watching, she would proceed and repeat the process until she came upon the warehouse itself. Pansy shunned the well-lit front door to the building, and instead slipped around the side of it, looking for a back entrance. Eventually, Pansy found one. She took another few minutes to observe the building before raising her wand to unlock the door from a distance.

"Alohomora." Pansy whispered as quietly as she could, pointing her wand at the door.

With a click, the door swung open. Pansy waited for some kind of reaction from anyone, inside or outside, but there was nothing. After a few moments, Pansy stepped forward and walked to the door. She pushed it open further and looked inside. Just a darkened hallway. Pansy took a deep breath and stepped inside the warehouse, pulling the door shut behind her.

The hallway was dark, save for the red "Exit" sign that muggles insisted on placing at the exits of buildings. Pansy silently walked down the hall and listened for any sounds she could hear. There was nothing at first, but as Pansy continued to make her way down the hall, she thought she heard voices. It was only when Pansy reached the end of the hallway and stopped next to the door there that she could start to make out the words.

"Did she get lost or something? McGonagall spotted her ten minutes ago. She should have been here by now." A woman said, annoyance evident in her voice.

"She'll be here. Trust me." Came Hermione's voice from the room inside.

Hearing Hermione's voice was enough to make Pansy open the door. She knew that she should be more cautious, that it could be someone using Polyjuice Potion to mimick Hermione, but Pansy brushed those concerns aside. After a month apart, she needed to see her girlfriend. Pansy whispered the countercharm to her Disillusionment Charm and stepped out of the hallway.

Unfortunately, Pansy's view was blocked by a wall of stacked wooden crates. They seemed to fill the large room to the ceiling. Hermione, and whoever she was with, was waiting behind them. Pansy walked around the makeshift wall until the people behind it came into view. As soon as she did, Pansy got a brief glimpse of Hermione and a dark-skinned woman standing next to her before the woman made a sudden movement. Pansy instinctively threw herself back behind the wall of crates and saw a jet of red light fly by the exact place she had just been standing. Panicked thoughts about Disapparating warred with worries about Hermione inside of Pansy's head, and she wasted valuable seconds in indecision until she heard a commotion on the other side of the wall.

"Stop! That's her!" Hermione shouted before Pansy heard a brief scuffle.

Pansy stepped out from behind the stack of crates with her wand raised. The woman, who Pansy could see clearly for the first time, was around their age. She had braided hair and a rather fierce scowl on her face. Hermione had a hold of her wrist and had pinned the woman's wand against the crates next to them. After she saw Pansy reappear, the woman made an attempt to free her wand hand. However, after realizing that Pansy hadn't sent a curse back at her, the woman stopped struggling. Hermione let go soon after, and the woman lowered her wand, though she still looked at Pansy with deep suspicion.

"This isn't quite the welcome I was expecting." Pansy said sarcastically, her magically altered voice sounding alien to her.

"It's the welcome that anyone wearing a Death Eater cloak should get. That thing makes my skin crawl." The dark-skinned woman said with disgust, shaking her head.

"This is Angelina, she's a friend." Hermione explained to Pansy, trying to reduce the tension.

"Very friendly, yes." Pansy responded dryly.

"Don't I get your name?" Angelina asked in an aggressive tone, raising her chin slightly.

Pansy frowned at Angelina, though her mask made it a waste of effort. She needed to trust these people absolutely before divulging her identity, as Pansy would be dead in short order if her fellow Death Eaters ever found out she was a traitor. Having a Stunning Spell shot at her did not exactly fill Pansy with confidence. Giving this Angelina a fake name could be easily done, but Pansy felt that her hostile approach didn't deserve even that.

"No, you don't." Pansy answered coldly, this woman having rubbed her completely the wrong way.

Hermione winced and looked back and forth between them, seemingly trying to find something to say that could cut the atmosphere. Pansy immediately felt guilty. Hermione hadn't done anything to deserve being put in the middle of their dispute. From the way Angelina continued to glower, she wasn't going to be offering any olive branches. It was for Hermione's sake that Pansy opened her mouth to say something conciliatory.

However, Pansy was rescued from the necessity of doing so by the sound of quiet footsteps approaching. They were coming from the opposite side of the building that Pansy had entered from. Pansy gripped her wand tightly and prepared herself for whatever it was that was coming.

The person who appeared out of the shadows was a surprise to Pansy, though it probably shouldn't have been. She had heard Angelina talking about someone named McGonagall having spotted her earlier, but had been too distracted by hearing Hermione's voice. The grey-haired, elderly witch who walked toward them with admirable poise was much as Pansy remembered in the dream. Minerva McGonagall was the Transfiguration teacher there.

Pansy hadn't always been lucky enough to appear next to Hermione whenever she had entered the dream. Occasionally she would be stuck in class, with Transfiguration being one of the more boring classes to sit through. But now that Pansy had an actual job (to say nothing of her double agent activity) with people expecting her to be proficient with her wandwork in any number of areas, Pansy desperately wished that she had paid more attention in her classes. Instead, she had decided on numerous occasions that her time would be better spent on composing poems to Hermione. They were dreadful, one and all, and Pansy didn't have nearly enough courage to ever show one to Hermione, but Pansy kept at it in the hopes that she could finally write a poem that wouldn't want to make her set fire to the parchment. On one occasion, Pansy remembered McGonagall catching her while she was hard at "work". Pansy had expected to be chewed out immediately, but instead, McGonagall glanced down at what was written on the parchment and favored Pansy with the briefest of smiles before sternly telling her to get back to her schoolwork.

If this McGonagall had any such tenderness inside her, it was buried far deeper. The look she gave Pansy now was cold and rather contemptuous. Pansy felt oddly hurt by how McGonagall seemed to look at her like she was some kind of bug. Apparently, the woman didn't hold Death Eaters in terribly high esteem.

"Miss Granger says that you're willing to help us. I'm curious about your motivations for doing so." McGonagall remarked to Pansy as soon as she reached them, dispensing with any niceties.

"I just want to do what's right. If you want my life story, you're out of luck." Pansy responded tersely.

A lengthy silence followed Pansy's words. Pansy knew that these people wanted details about who she was and what her motivations were. Trusting that some mysterious Death Eater was offering genuine help had to be an insane risk for them to take. But the stakes were even higher for Pansy. These people could run and hide if they were discovered. Pansy could do neither. The Mark on her forearm meant that the Dark Lord would know her general location no matter where she went. Hiding would be an impossibility, and running would only delay the inevitable. Pansy simply couldn't take that chance right now.

"A pity. Your information will have to do, then." McGonagall said finally, looking as though she had just bitten into something unpleasant.

"Wait. You're going to trust a Death Eater, just like that?" Angelina interjected in apparent disbelief.

"Trust has to begin somewhere." McGonagall said in a softer tone, as though remembering what someone else may have told her.

Perhaps these people were more desperate than Pansy thought, if they were willing to forgo knowing who she was. Then again, maybe McGonagall was just braver than she was. The woman was a Gryffindor in the dream, along with Hermione for that matter. Pansy glanced over at her girlfriend to see that Hermione was giving her an expectant look. Pansy knew that look well by now. It meant that some moral bar needed to be met, one that Pansy probably wouldn't make the effort to meet without Hermione's encouragement.

"I appreciate that. If this meeting goes well, I'll share some more about who I am." Pansy offered, more because of Hermione's encouraging nods than anything else.

"I look forward to it. Now the information we need, more than anything else, is about where the Ministry keeps its stockpiles of wands. We'll also need to know how they're guarded and when they're transported." McGonagall said in the same firm tone Pansy remembered her lecturing a class with.

"That kind of information is kept within the Office of Finance. They don't just leave it lying around." Pansy said regretfully.

"So you can't help us?" McGonagall asked, her eyes narrowing slightly.

"I didn't say that. It's going to be difficult to get my hands on, but I'll try." Pansy responded defensively.

"Very well. I assume Miss Granger will inform us if you're able to do so. But we'll need to cut this short. It's never a good idea to stay in one place for too long, especially in London." McGonagall said, drawing her wand.

Pansy tensed up at the motion, but all McGonagall did was turn and Disapparate with a loud crack. Angelina followed shortly, pausing only to give Pansy one last suspicious look. Which left her alone with Hermione. Her girlfriend quickly walked up and embraced Pansy, who gladly hugged her back. As much as she wanted to keep hugging Hermione, Pansy broke the hug and stepped back slightly.

"Let's talk, but not here. We shouldn't stick around this place." Pansy said cautiously.

"Alright. Any destinations in mind?" Hermione asked, taking Pansy's hand.

"Surprise me." Pansy said, smiling even though her girlfriend couldn't see it behind her mask.

They hadn't discussed it at all, but if one of them was taking the other with Side-Along Apparition, then Hermione would naturally be the one to do it. It was an inextricable part of what others might uncharitably call Hermione's control-freak nature, and what Pansy called her girlfriend's admirable sense of responsibility for the people she cared for. In any case, Pansy squeezed her girlfriend's hand and watched as Hermione twisted around.

* * *

A few uncomfortable moments later ended with them appearing outside in the night. There was a railing in front of them, and above that, Pansy recognized the lights coming from The Shard skyscraper in the skyline across the water from them. The perspective looked more like the one Pansy saw from her rented apartment window, and not like the one she often saw from the ground. That, coupled with the breeze around them, told Pansy that they were on the roof of some building.

Pansy whispered the countercharm for the spell she had used to disguise her voice before stowing her wand away. Then she took off her mask and felt the breeze blowing around them properly for the first time. The view around her was captivating, but Pansy wasted no time in turning around to look at Hermione fully.

"It's a nice view, huh?" Hermione asked her, looking out over the skyline.

"Always, love. And the skyline looks great too." Pansy said, smiling at Hermione.

Hermione laughed and looked back at Pansy. Although the light was dim up here, Pansy had no trouble seeing into her girlfriend's brown eyes. She had spent a particularly lonely evening after work in her apartment looking up all the different shades of brown there were, just trying to find the one that perfectly matched Hermione's eyes. A rare shade called Kobicha had been her pick, and Pansy could tell now that it was indeed the perfect match.

Pansy was quite curious about how Hermione had managed to find those people, but her close proximity to her girlfriend was pushing those thoughts away. Pansy could keep herself from reaching out to run her hands through Hermione's hair, or kissing her, but she couldn't keep herself from thinking about it. Maybe Hermione sensed this because she stepped closer to Pansy.

"I know we're supposed to be talking, but I don't think either of us can really focus enough right now." Hermione said softly, looking right into Pansy's eyes.

Whether Hermione was just as distracted as Pansy, or was just pretending to be for Pansy's sake was unclear, but it didn't much matter to her. All that Pansy cared about was that she had gotten Hermione's implicit permission to start kissing her. Which Pansy did, marveling at the softness of her girlfriend's lips. Although Pansy was the one to initiate the kiss, Hermione, as befitted her newfound preference for being in control, quickly and confidently used her tongue first. Pansy eagerly accepted her girlfriend's tongue into her mouth. It really was much, much better this way than the early days between them, when Pansy was the one who always had to do push things forward because Hermione was too shy to do it herself. Pansy reached for Hermione's robes with the obvious intention of pulling them over her head when her girlfriend broke off the kiss.

"There are apartment buildings around us, you know." Hermione said, sounding a little worried about the prospect.

"So a muggle or two might see us. Big deal." Pansy reasoned, her ability to think clearly hampered more than ever.

"Really? Then you're fine with taking all of your clothes off?" Hermione asked with a hint of a challenge, her raising her eyebrows.

"Of course, love." Pansy answered easily, already pulling her cloak off.

By the time Pansy had gotten down to her underwear, her breezy confidence had vanished. For one thing, the actual breeze around them was much more noticeable without her robes on. And the possibility of some random muggles seeing her naked, which Pansy had been blasé about less than a minute ago, was harder to dismiss now. Pansy couldn't help but hesitate to unhook her bra. Hermione, clearly picking up on Pansy's nervousness, was looking at her with undisguised amusement. Pansy couldn't begrudge her that, because she herself wanted to laugh at how heedlessly she had plunged into this situation.

Pansy had two choices now. She could hurriedly put her clothes back on, probably giving up the chance to make love with her girlfriend tonight and also giving Hermione an amusing memory with which she could forever tease Pansy with, or she could just take off her bra and knickers. Pansy had come this far, after all. And almost all of those muggles around them with their windows open had to be staring at their TV screens and computer monitors anyway.

Pansy unhooked her bra and tossed it at Hermione's feet. She then slowly shimmied her knickers (both of which were a vivid, coral blue, not that it would be easy to see in the low light of the rooftop) down her thighs and stepped out of them. Pansy tossed them on the floor of the rooftop alongside her bra and, feigning a confidence that she didn't come close to feeling, put her hands on her hips and walked up to Hermione.

"Well, I guess you showed me, huh?" Hermione asked, a trace of laughter still in her voice even as she took in the sight of Pansy naked in front of her.

"Alright, your turn to strip." Pansy said, trying to keep any nervousness out of her voice.

"Did I say that I would? I don't remember doing that..." Hermione said thoughtfully, cocking her head a bit.

Perhaps Hermione knew that an indignant outburst was forthcoming from Pansy, because she quickly forstalled one by kissing her. Pansy longed to give her girlfriend a piece of her mind, but that impulse vanished pretty quickly as she continued to kiss Hermione. Her nipples were rock hard at this point, which was likely more due to the wind than their continued make-out, but Pansy didn't really care about the particulars, she just wanted them touched. Hermione broke off the kiss and took a moment to catch her breath before speaking.

"Turn around and put your hands on the railing." Hermione ordered briskly, evidently embracing her new role of being the dominant one between them.

Pansy grumbled under her breath but turned around and grabbed the railing as Hermione told her to. There she was, completely naked and probably giving a few muggles a show while her girlfriend was fully clothed and likely to remain so. Then Hermione reached her hands around Pansy to start teasing her nipples, and suddenly Pansy's discontent was forgotten as she couldn't help but moan from the amazing sensations there.

Minutes went by while Hermione continued to pinch and rub Pansy's nipples, only occasionally bending down to kiss the sensitive spot on her neck underneath Pansy's ears. Pansy loved the mind-blowing stimulation that her nipples were being given, but very much wanted her pussy to be given the same treatment. Pansy knew implicitly that if she took her hands off the railing to do it, however, Hermione would be disappointed in her. So it was that Pansy was reduced to rubbing her thighs together in vain, just trying to find whatever stimulation she could. Hermione might have told her not to, but it was obvious that Pansy was never going to reach orgasm that way. It was only serving to make her more frustrated, not that knowing that was enough to stop Pansy from trying anyway.

Hermione took her time with deciding that Pansy had been teased enough. She casually removed her hand from Pansy's right nipple and traced her fingers downward, moving slower instead of faster as they got closer to Pansy's pussy. Pansy let out an impatient noise, and the progress Hermione was making slowed down to a crawl.

"Please, love!" Pansy begged instead, knowing that was almost certainly what Hermione wanted.

Sure enough, Hermione hastened her hand's journey until she made contact with her girlfriend's pussy. Hermione pulled her hand back in surprise, however, before Pansy heard her crouch downward.

"Wow, I didn't think you'd enjoy this so much." Hermione said, sounding genuinely surprised as she took a close look at Pansy's bare pussy.

Pansy didn't need her girlfriend to report how wet she was. Her previous thigh-rubbing had already caused them to become slick. Pansy sometimes wished she could take control like she used to and quickly receive the deep, satisfying orgasm that her body was demanding. But Hermione seemed to find quite a bit of enjoyment in keeping Pansy on the edge, and as for Pansy herself, well, the evidence was undeniable.

Hermione flicked her tongue out to trace Pansy's pussy lips, causing her girlfriend to cry out. Pansy, who was mostly operating on instinct at the moment, spread her legs further apart to give Hermione better access. She had just been expecting her girlfriend's fingers. Each flick of Hermione's tongue caused Pansy to cry out despite her earnest desire not to draw attention to herself. Hermione wasn't licking her particularly forcefully, but Pansy didn't need to her to, considering how primed she was. In a very short span of time, Pansy felt a powerful orgasm building inside her. Climaxes like that only came about when she was with Hermione. The orgasms she felt while masturbating never compared.

Pansy's climax broke over her with explosive force. Pansy tried not to cry out, but she rather doubted that she succeeded in any way at keeping her voice down. She was aware of dropping to her knees at some point, with Hermione embracing her tightly as waves of heat rolled through Pansy's body. Pansy's thoughts were swept away from the sheer force of her climax, and they only returned, bit by bit, over the next few minutes as Pansy began catching her breath.

The first thing Pansy realized was that she had remarkably kept hold of the railing all the way through. The next thing that Pansy realized was that Hermione was kissing her back gently, still hugging her, thereby giving Pansy's naked body a little protection from the wind. Both of these realizations made Pansy feel warmer, both inside and out.

Unfortunately, the third realization Pansy had was not nearly so pleasant. She could hear whistles, laughter, and some clapping around her. They were coming from the apartment buildings around them. From the sound of it, there were maybe half a dozen muggles, both men and women, who had seen and heard Pansy orgasm right there on the roof.

Pansy grappled with a fierce sense of embarrassment that was filling her and causing her to want to grab her wand and Disapparate then and there. With Hermione's help, however, she gathered up her discarded clothes and walked as calmly as she could toward the shack-like building that led off of the roof. Hermione whispered an Unlocking Charm, causing the door to drift ajar as they approached. Pansy kept a hold of herself as tightly as she could until she had made her way into the room, then slammed the door shut with unnecessary force. The shack-like building they had entered turned out to be covering the top of a very long stairwell.

Pansy turned to look angrily at Hermione, who was affecting an air of sympathy and solicitousness. Pansy knew her too well to buy that, however. Hermione was clearly struggling not to laugh, but she was doing so because she wanted to spare Pansy's feelings. After realizing that, Pansy's anger started to fade. She couldn't really blame Hermione for something she herself had initiated. And the more time that passed with Pansy separated from her humiliating experience, the more Pansy could tell that, yes, it was tremendously funny. Pansy finally cracked a smile, which let Hermione drop her act and start laughing. Pansy couldn't help but join in until the laughter between them was exhausted. It amazed Pansy that she could be so cautious alone, as she was while she was heading to the meeting earlier, and so reckless when she was together with Hermione. Being with her girlfriend clearly made her braver. Or dumber. Probably a combination of the two.

"I kind of thought that muggle TV would be more interesting than watching us." Pansy said with an overly dramatic sigh as she started to put her clothes back on.

"It's not really that great. Trust me." Hermione returned, smiling.

"You could have let me know earlier, love." Pansy said reproachfully, putting her socks on.

"And miss that? Not for the world." Hermione said with refreshing honesty.

"I just hope that nobody recorded me with those phones they're always using." Pansy said regretfully.

"Don't worry about that. When we arrived, I cast a spell that makes electronic recording go haywire. If anyone tried to record us, all they'd get would be a distorted picture." Hermione assured her.

"Where did you learn that? I don't remember them teaching that at either Hogwarts." Pansy asked curiously.

"McGonagall taught it to me. She said that the Dark Lord has spies that go over popular muggle videos to try to catch a glimpse of any fugitives that are trying to hide in the muggle world." Hermione answered.

"Right. I seem to recall wanting to talk about that, but I think we got sidetracked a little bit." Pansy said with a rueful air, putting her shoes back on.

"Well, what do you want to know?" Hermione asked simply.

"Everything! Did you find Hagrid? How did you contact those people? Start at the beginning." Pansy stated with interest, sitting down on the floor and resting her hands on her knees.


	20. Hermione's Tale

Pansy listened with rapt attention as Hermione told her tale. She had reached the Forbidden Forest after a few days of travel and had bravely plunged into it alone. Hermione had attempted to pick up Hagrid's trail, but with very little to go on, she had been reduced to wandering game trails and pathways through the forest. It was only when she happened to wander into the territory of a large group of centaurs that she made headway. Pansy's fingers tightened in nervousness as her girlfriend described being hauled off by some hot-headed centaurs who had declared her to be a trespasser, even though she knew that her girlfriend had come out of it alright.

They had taken her to their leader, an aged centaur named Magorian. Hermione tried to explain that she had no ill-intentions and had crossed into their territory by accident, but they had seemed disinclined to believe her. It was only when Hermione mentioned Hagrid's name that they relented. Some of the centaurs were still of the opinion that she should be punished, but Magorian decided to allow Hermione to leave their territory. As she was being escorted out, a younger centaur named Firenze had offered to guide Hermione to Hagrid's last known location, to the evident displeasure of his fellows.

That location was a large, lived-in cave that was unfortunately empty. Hagrid had departed a long time ago, but Hermione went through the cave with a fine-toothed comb until she discovered something curious. On the wall in the corner of the cave was an odd carving. It was a long line that snaked up and down, with a large X carved below the line off to the side. Below that was what looked like a carving of a strange bird.

At first, Hermione had thought that it referred to some path in the forest or a creek to follow. But something about the shape of the line triggered Hermione's memory faintly. The bird was a more obvious clue, but with her mind led astray by the more mundane birds chirping in the forest around her, it took Hermione a while before she realized what it had to be. It was a Phoenix. This had to refer to the Order of the Phoenix! Armed with that information, Hermione had finally realized what the carved line resembled in her memory. It was the picture she had seen of every original member of the Order of the Phoenix. The line roughly matched where the head of each Order member stood, with the X having to do with a particular member. Hermione's memory was excellent, but she couldn't recall where everyone had stood in it. The fact that they tended to wander around made it even more difficult, even if they generally stuck to the spots they were at when the photograph was taken.

Hermione had pulled out the notes she had made of the dossier Pansy had stolen for them. Hermione's strict attention to detail had paid off here, as she had copied down every scrap of information in the dossier. This included even their estimated heights, which allowed Hermione to narrow down the identity of whoever was given an X, as that person appeared to be easily taller than most people in the photo. That person, whom Hermione thought was almost certainly a man, was the same height as one other person, and both of them were second only to Hagrid when it came to height.

It only took a few minutes for Hermione to narrow down who it could be. It was either Albus Dumbledore or his brother Aberforth. And since the X was nowhere near the center, where Hermione remembered Albus stood, that left only one person it could be: Aberforth Dumbledore. Whoever had carved this here, whether it was Hagrid or someone else, had intentionally left a clue that only an Order member would understand. Or someone with connections to them and who was smart enough to get it, in Hermione's case.

The problem was that Aberforth had supposedly left the country. How was Hermione going to find him then? The only lead she had on Aberforth was that he had owned a bar in Hogsmeade. It had to be shuttered by now, but Hermione had no choice but to investigate it. She had Disapparated quickly after that and had Apparated just outside Hogsmeade. Hermione had waited until dark and had slipped in as soon as the streets were deserted, which happened very quickly after the sun went down.

Pansy took a moment to marvel at the brilliance and tenacity that her girlfriend had shown. Had Pansy been the one to attempt this alone, she would have failed miserably. Even assuming that she wouldn't have given up after a few miserable hours of hiking through rough wilderness, (quite an assumption) Pansy would have probably panicked and used her wand on the centaurs instead of keeping a cool head and reasoning with them as Hermione had done. Pansy would never have found Hagrid's cave, and even if she had, the cryptic clue there would have baffled her.

"You're amazing, love. Absolutely amazing." Pansy said warmly, looking at her girlfriend with earnest appreciation.

Hermione smiled in the honest way she always did when she was complimented. Her girlfriend's skill at keeping her face composed was learned after having taunts, slurs, and ridicule frequently thrown at her while she had grown up at her muggleborn orphanage. Compliments, however, were something that Hermione had rarely received growing up. Consequently, she had very little experience at hiding her pleased reactions to them. Pansy loved seeing that particular smile on her girlfriend's face, and privately vowed to find more opportunities to lavish Hermione with praise in the future. But for now, Pansy kept quiet, as she was keen to hear more about Hermione's adventure.

Aberforth's bar had turned out to be very much closed, and the sign had either been removed or had fallen off. Hermione had forced open a boarded-up backdoor in order to gain entrance to the bar. There had been a thick layer of dust on everything, which had been quite discouraging to her. Nevertheless, Hermione had traveled up the stairs to the main bedroom of the building. Dust was everywhere here, but it was clear that the last person to come into this room had searched it to the point of trashing it. Hermione could just imagine enraged Death Eaters tearing the place up, searching for any scrap of information that would tell them where Aberforth might be. No Death Eater seemed to be as patient and thorough as Hermione could be, however, so she hadn't lost hope. She had carefully sifted through the piles of old debris, searching for anything that might be a clue, when she had heard a small cough behind her. Hermione had wheeled around with her wand raised and had gaped in complete surprise. The large painting over the dusty bed, which had been empty when Hermione had entered, had been suddenly occupied.

A scared looking girl with blonde hair had been watching her from the painting. She didn't look terribly young and was probably only four or five years younger than Hermione herself. But she somehow gave the impression of someone much younger. Hermione had tried to engage the girl in conversation, but it wasn't easy. Although she seemed to understand what Hermione said, she wouldn't speak herself. It took some time, but Hermione eventually got the girl to understand that she was looking for Aberforth, and that she didn't mean him any harm. At that, the girl had walked off the edge of the painting.

Hermione spent many minutes talking to the empty painting, trying in vain to summon the girl back. It was only after half an hour of fruitless cajoling that Hermione had given up and returned to sifting through the trashed room. Unfortunately, even after examining every inch of the room, Hermione hadn't found anything worthwhile. It had been past midnight and Hermione had been walking most of the day. She'd been exhausted and finding it harder to get her brain in gear. No more ideas came to her, and Hermione had just about decided to plop down onto the dusty bed to sleep (a dumb, risky idea) when a barn owl had appeared at the window of the room with a letter tied to its leg.

Hermione had eagerly opened the window and read the letter. It was short and mysterious, telling her only to come to the cemetery in the wizarding town of Ottery St. Catchpole. Although Hermione had felt much more like sleeping for the next twelve hours, she had Apparated just outside there. Hermione had entered the darkened town to find the streets deserted. She had expected it, of course. Hogsmeade had been the same. The only living thing Hermione had seen was a cat with odd, spectacle-shaped markings around its eyes as she had entered the cemetery. Something about the cat had tugged at Hermione's memory, but she had been too tired to invest any mental energy into figuring out where she had remembered a cat from.

The cemetery had not been difficult to find, and as Hermione had entered it, she saw that one of the larger mausoleums had been open. A tall, hooded figure had stood in the entrance with their figure illuminated by a few candles inside of it. It had been an immensely creepy image, but Hermione hadn't hesitated to approach the figure. She had come too far by now and was tantalizingly close to making contact with the Order. Had Hermione been a little more clear-headed, she might have thought twice about the choices she had been making.

The mysterious person, who was definitely a man, had beckoned her to enter before going deeper into the mausoleum himself. Hermione had entered the small chamber to find the man standing behind a raised stone tomb. There had been a goblet resting on top of it. Hermione had begun asking questions about who the man was, but he had refused to answer any of them. He had simply told her to drink from the goblet if she wanted to have her questions answered. The man's voice had been rough and he didn't have a particularly kind or courteous air, but something about him had reminded Hermione of Albus Dumbledore. That wasn't quite enough for Hermione to drink whatever unknown substance had been in the goblet, however, so they had been at an impasse.

Their impasse had been broken after Hermione had heard footsteps behind her. Minerva McGonagall had stepped out of the shadows with her wand pointed squarely at Hermione. She had repeated Aberforth's instructions, with her raised wand silently demonstrating what the alternative would be. Although Hermione could have done without the wand pointed at her, the sight of one of the teachers from the dream world that she had trusted most was enough to allay some of her concerns. She had picked up the goblet in front of her and examined the liquid inside. The light inside the mausoleum was dim, but the thick purple liquid had looked precisely like the Sleeping Draught described in her Potions textbook. Considering that the alternative was likely being Stunned, Hermione had drained the goblet in one swallow and had passed out moments later.

The next thing Hermione had known, she had woken up in some unfamiliar, run-down building and had been immediately interrogated by Minerva McGonagall and Aberforth Dumbledore. The resulting interrogation lasted days, with Hermione having decided to tell nothing but the truth, no matter how strange it sounded. Obviously, they hadn't believed Hermione's tales of some alternate reality she had touched that had allowed her to gather information about Order members. Eventually, though, their disbelief seemed to buckle under the weight of detail that Hermione provided about everything she could remember. The information about Albus Dumbledore, in particular, had an effect on her interrogators. McGonagall had grown quieter and more pensive as Hermione told her what she had known about Albus in the dream world, while Aberforth seemed to grow angrier instead. Whatever issues he had with his brother hadn't had the same resolution here, apparently. But regardless of their differing reactions, both of them had seemed more inclined to believe Hermione after that.

Hermione had held practically nothing back. The one exception was everything that had to do with Pansy. However willing Hermione was to risk her life here, she had refused to put Pansy at similar risk with these people whose trustworthiness had yet to be established conclusively.

At this, Pansy scooted over on the top of the stairwell to embrace her girlfriend. All this danger that Hermione had braved alone, and she still had plenty of concern left for Pansy's safety. Pansy believed that she would do the same for Hermione, but was glad that she hadn't needed to yet. Deep down, Pansy was afraid that her inner cowardice would be something that she couldn't overcome. She was already a braver person because of Hermione's belief in her and encouragement for her, but Pansy had some small, private doubts that it would be enough to counteract her nature. But the way that Hermione hugged her back was helping to dispel those doubts, at least for now. Pansy released her girlfriend and stayed next to her, as Hermione's comforting presence was stronger the closer Pansy was to her. Hermione seemed to understand Pansy's sudden need to be next to her, as she scooted over a bit so that there was no space between them before continuing with her story.

McGonagall and Aberforth had released her on the third day of her interrogation. They still couldn't quite wrap their minds around what Hermione had been telling them, but they were convinced that she was no danger. They had gotten to know each other better over the next few days. It was enough for them to allow Hermione some limited knowledge of the people who were still resisting. So far, Hermione had also met Angelina Johnson, Remus Lupin, and Rubeus Hagrid. They had either met in random, slum-like areas of towns across Britain, or else places in the wilderness that were entirely out of the way.

Hagrid was now living in a long-shuttered mine on the edge of the Caledonian forest in Scotland where Lupin made his home. It was something of a base for Order members, one that showed evidence that there were more people resisting than the handful of members Hermione was allowed to meet. The fact that none of them had made any mention of Emmeline Vance, whom Hermione had known was still active, was yet more proof of that. Hermione hadn't gotten far with her questions with most of the group, however, with the exception of Hagrid. Hagrid had almost let something slip during a conversation over dinner, where he had referred to another, smaller circle within the Order. Hermione had been curious, of course, but Hagrid wouldn't elaborate. The huge man had said only that it was too sensitive to talk about right now.

"Sensitive? What could be more sensitive than what they're doing?" Pansy asked incredulously.

"I don't know. Maybe they'll share more with me when I have something more to offer them." Hermione answered, shrugging slightly.

Pansy knew that this was where she came in. Providing inside information about the activities of the Death Eaters would be crucial for Hermione's standing in this resistance group. Just because Pansy didn't have access to the particular information they wanted wasn't going to stop her here. Ever since Pansy had learned that they wanted to know everything there was to know about the Ministry's closely-guarded stockpiles of wands, her subconscious had been forming the outlines of a plan. That was something in which Pansy excelled. Coming up with complex ideas on the fly was not her strength. But if she gave herself time to mull it over in the back of her mind, Pansy would often surprise herself with the ideas that she came up with. Right now, Pansy was remembering that Draco Malfoy had been placed in the Office of Finance. And she had a plausible reason for meeting with him socially.

"Love, I need you to help me brew some Polyjuice Potion." Pansy said slowly, the plan beginning to come together in her mind.

"Polyjuice Potion?" Hermione asked curiously, her eyebrows rising.

"Yes. I think I have to way to find out what your new friends want to know. I just need to be someone else for a bit." Pansy remarked lightly, smiling at Hermione.


	21. Polyjuice Permutations

Pansy raised her glass of wine in Draco's direction and saw the blonde-haired pureblood mirror Pansy's motion from across the table. They were seated in the dining room on the 5th floor of the Savoy Hotel in London. Pansy was wearing a scarlet lace dress with long ruby earrings and red pumps. It was a bolder and less subtle look than Pansy usually wore, but subtlety was the opposite of Pansy's aim here.

Draco was wearing an open-collared blue blazer over a pressed white shirt. It paired well with his blonde hair. A little too well, in fact. Someone else had probably picked that out for him. If Pansy hadn't heard through the grapevine that he had recently become engaged to Daphne Greengrass, she might have assumed that his mother Narcissa had been the one to pick it out.

"I'm impressed. When you said you wanted to get something to eat in the muggle world, I was prepared for the worst." Draco drawled, putting his glass down.

"You just have to know the right places to go," Pansy answered lightly after taking a sip of wine.

"Do you spend a lot of time out here?" Draco asked, leaning forward a little.

"You mean in the muggle world? Sometimes. It's tiresome to always have to deal with people who are afraid of me or want favors, or whatever. Muggle ignorance is easy by comparison." Pansy answered with an honest smile.

Draco nodded and seemed to take a few moments to absorb what Pansy had said. Hopefully, Draco was considering the opportunities their anonymity here provided them. It was part of the reason why Pansy had selected a muggle hotel rather than something in the wizarding world. She needed to bring him up to her room, and Draco might hesitate to do so if he thought that his fiancé might catch wind of it.

"So, how are things in Finance? I've heard that they redesigned the floor entirely after the Dark Lord took control. Marble walls, velvet carpets, serenading wood nymphs?" Pansy asked with an offhand air.

"It's hardly as luxurious as that. It doesn't quite compare with Malfoy Manor. But what am I complaining about? Working alongside those trolls in Security must be quite a travail." Draco said in a neutral tone that Pansy was fairly sure would have been disgust if he hadn't wanted to avoid offending her.

"Oh, it's not so bad. You get used to the grunting and shoving after a while." Pansy responded sarcastically.

"If I may ask, why did you choose there and not something in Finance as well?" Draco asked curiously.

"I don't know really. I just didn't think that working at a desk was quite for me. At least in Security, I get to have a little fun." Pansy answered, this time with a distinct lack of honesty.

"And it's fun working for Bellatrix?" Draco asked doubtfully.

"Not as such, no. But I promise you, it's only a matter of time before I have my own squad." Pansy said with an air of faux confidence.

"You must be working a lot then, if you're planning on moving up so quickly." Draco remarked after taking another sip of wine.

"I am. It's fairly stressful, which is why I'm in need of the occasional outlet outside of work." Pansy said leadingly, looking at Draco with interest.

"So that's what this is about?" Draco asked with an appreciative smile.

Pansy smiled back and said nothing. She raised a hand and snapped her fingers, thereby summoning the nearest muggle waiter. She dug through her crimson handbag until she had produced what muggles referred to as a "credit card". Pansy had no idea how the process worked, but the small plastic card she had received at Gringotts apparently worked in lieu of money. Muggles would do...something with it, and the bill would be paid. The particulars were unimportant so long as it worked. The waiter vanished with her card, and Pansy drained the last of the wine in her glass.

"It's early, but I think I'll head to my room. Maybe you'd like to join me?" Pansy offered, her tone leaving no doubt as what she wanted.

"Yes, I think I'd like that." Draco answered with a smug sense of self-satisfaction.

* * *

"The view here is certainly something." Draco remarked, staring out the window as Pansy poured them both another glass of wine in her room.

"Yes, it is. And it's real, unlike what's outside the windows in the Ministry." Pansy said briskly, busying herself while Draco's back was turned.

Hermione had managed to refine the essence of a Sleeping Draught to a small powder that Pansy now poured into Draco's glass. The purple shade of the Malbec that Pansy had previously selected would disguise any visual changes, and hopefully, the full-bodied wine would overpower any difference in the taste. With that accomplished, Pansy walked over to Draco and made certain to offer the right glass to him. Draco accepted it and took a drink before sitting down on the bed.

"I'm a little surprised. I'm glad I was wrong, but I had the impression before that you weren't interested in men at all." Draco said, taking another sip of wine.

"Did you?" Pansy asked vaguely as she tried to come up with an explanation for Draco's entirely correct impression.

"You broke off our engagement pretty quickly. Don't get me wrong, it was way too early for that. I don't know what our parents were thinking. But you seemed pretty cold to the idea. And you never had any boyfriends at Hogwarts that I could tell." Draco pointed out, setting his glass of wine on the end table next to the bed.

"I just didn't want to be stuck in the plan my parents had for me. Married after Hogwarts, having children, just being some rich pureblood woman who did nothing of value herself. You can understand that, right?" Pansy asked as she sat down on the bed as well.

"Sure." Draco said simply, before beginning to yawn.

"Tired? Maybe you should lie down on the bed for a bit." Pansy suggested, leaning forward to push Draco down gently by his shoulders.

"Sorry. Don't know why I'm so...so..." Draco said faintly, before closing his eyes and trailing off.

Pansy waited a few moments until she saw that Draco had indeed fallen into a deep sleep before bounding off the bed. She walked over to the wall opposite the bed and rapped on it three times in quick succession. That was the signal for Hermione (who had been waiting inside the room there) to come in. Pansy moved over to the door and opened it. Pansy glanced behind her at the bed, just to make sure that Draco hadn't moved, and by the time she turned back to face the door, Hermione had appeared. Her girlfriend was wearing a far more sensible dark blue dress than Pansy was wearing, and she was holding a flask of bubbling brown liquid that looked quite a bit like the hot fudge that the restaurant downstairs served as a dessert. Pansy rather doubted that it was going to taste anything like that, however.

"That's quite a dress." Hermione said teasingly as soon as she saw Pansy.

"Thanks. It's about as subtle as an axe, but that was the point." Pansy responded with a smile, moving aside so that Hermione could enter.

"Take it off, please. You'll probably tear it if you don't." Hermione said as she moved past Pansy and over to the table in the center of the room.

Pansy nodded and began stripping. This dress was certainly easier to remove than her usual, more elaborate ones. As Pansy pulled it off, she watched as Hermione uncapped the flask and swirled it around. Her girlfriend peered into it closely and nodded before turning around. Pansy, who was now down to her more sensibly-colored black bra and knickers, saw Hermione produce a tiny pair of scissors. Her girlfriend then walked over to where Draco Malfoy was snoozing on the bed and cut a very small lock of hair from his head. Hermione looked at Pansy for a moment and took a deep breath.

"Here goes." Hermione said shortly before dropping the hair into the potion.

Pansy had taken her bra and knickers off by now. In the time it had taken her to do that, the potion had transformed from a sludgy mud color to a muted orange, rather like the shade of a pumpkin.

"Not too bad. I was expecting worse." Hermione remarked, shaking the flask gently.

"Worse?" Pansy asked quizzically, moving over to her girlfriend.

"The taste and color change depending on the person's nature. I'm sure that Snape or Slughorn said it at some point." Hermione said in the lecturing tone she couldn't help but use sometimes.

"I might have been a little preoccupied with a copy of Witch Weekly." Pansy said ruefully, taking the potion from Hermione.

"Wait. Before you drink it..." Hermione said rather abruptly, moving closer to Pansy.

Hermione leaned forward and kissed Pansy softly. Pansy, who had been demonstrating an interest that she didn't feel for Draco Malfoy all night, felt herself responding to Hermione's kiss immediately. The fact that she was naked in front of her girlfriend made it that much stronger. Distracting ideas about what they could do on the bed beside them quickly filled Pansy's head. Unfortunately, Hermione broke off the kiss moments later.

"I just wanted to do that now. I don't think I'm going to want to do it afterward." Hermione said, smiling at Pansy.

"Do we have any spare time, love?" Pansy asked, despite her ironclad certainty that her girlfriend was going to shoot down the idea.

"What do you mean? There's...oh. We can't. As soon as you add in the final ingredient, the potion begins to degrade. It'll be useless after five minutes." Hermione said, shaking her head and sounding at least a little sympathetic.

"It's only been about a minute..." Pansy said enticingly.

"Not a chance. Drink up." Hermione said shortly, in her not-joking-at-all tone.

Pansy sighed a little too dramatically to be taken seriously as she brought up the flask. It smelled...kind of like pumpkins, actually. The taste couldn't be that bad then. Pansy took a moment to look down at her naked body, trying to appreciate its form before it would change.

"Bottoms up." Pansy said as she brought the flask to her lips.

The first bitter swallow reminded Pansy of the time in which she had ordered coffee from a waitress and had completely forgotten to tell the woman to add plenty of cream and sugar. In the past, Pansy had been so used to Hermione knowing exactly how she liked her coffee to realize that the waitress was just going to bring her something without any cream or sugar in it. That bitter taste was quite similar to what Pansy was tasting now.

Pansy drank down the last of the potion and lowered the flask slowly. There was an unsettled feeling in her stomach, but other than that, Pansy couldn't detect anything different about herself. Then the squirming sensation started to feel more like a bunch of snakes were inside her, and it quickly spread throughout Pansy's body. It wasn't painful at all, but the feeling of having her body rearrange itself from the inside out was absolutely bizarre.

Pansy felt her perspective shift as she rose almost half a foot. Hermione, who had been looking at her with wonder, now had to crane her neck up to maintain eye contact. Pansy's bobbed black hair receded into her scalp, and it was replaced by the short shiny blonde hair Pansy had been looking at through dinner. Focusing on these details kept Pansy from thinking too hard about the rest of her body, which was shifting in extremely awkward ways to her. After about a minute of her uncomfortable metamorphosis, Pansy seemed to have completed her shift. The squirming sensation she had been experiencing throughout her body had faded entirely.

"I'm not looking forward to doing that again, love." Pansy said, immediately wincing at the newfound deepness of her voice.

Hermione was determinedly not looking downward at what was now Draco Malfoy's naked body. Pansy took her cue from Hermione and refrained from looking either. Pansy turned to head over to the closet where she had stashed some men's wizarding robes earlier. As Pansy walked, she quickly noticed that her usual walk didn't exactly fit her new body. Her naturally short steps were almost comical on Malfoy's larger body, and the subtle way that Pansy generally swung her hips as she walked was not in keeping with Malfoy's wider shoulders and narrower hips. The quiet laughter coming from behind her let Pansy know that Hermione hadn't missed it either.

"That's not going to work at all." Hermione said critically, shaking her head.

"I know, love. Let me put some robes on first, then I'll practice." Pansy assured her, pulling some wizarding robes out of the closet.

It didn't take too long for Pansy to temporarily unlearn her usual way of walking. From there, she attempted to mimic the natural mannerisms Draco had shown through dinner. Things such as taking up an excessive amount of space, not having to modulate the volume of her voice as much, and speaking in the monotone that men generally used, were easy to adopt after a little practice. Pansy would have liked more time to refine her mannerisms, but the clock was ticking. Polyjuice Potion was only good for an hour after drinking it.

"Alright, love. I think I'm good to go." Pansy said, feeling less uncomfortable with having Draco Malfoy's voice coming out of her mouth than ever.

"Not quite. Hold on." Hermione said in a rush, as if she had just thought of something.

Hermione walked over to where Draco was slumbering and fished through his pockets. She produced a golden, ornate pocket watch of the type that wizarding men were often given when they came of age.

"Here, take this with you. You have about 45 minutes left. Make them count. I'll be waiting here for you to come back." Hermione said encouragingly, sitting down on the bed.

Pansy accepted the watch with a grateful nod and stowed it in her robes. She then retrieved Draco's wand from the bed. Using it would mean that her spells would be less effective, but she couldn't take the chance that someone else might notice that Malfoy was suddenly using someone else's wand. Although, considering the possibility of Splinching, Pansy was going to err on the safe side and use her own wand to Apparate to the Ministry.

* * *

Pansy crossed the Atrium as casually as she could. What seemed to her like a serious security flaw was working to her benefit here. The halfbloods that filled many of the jobs at the Ministry seemed unwilling to insist that Death Eaters like Draco Malfoy follow normal security procedures. That included even the guard post at the entrance to the Ministry, which Pansy had walked past without a backward glance.

Thankfully, the Ministry tended to empty out quickly after-hours. Most of the half-blood workers cleared out as soon as they could. It meant that Pansy only passed by a handful of people on her way to the main lifts. As soon as she entered one of them, she pressed the button to bring her to where she had never gone before: the highest level of the Ministry, and one floor above Security Services.

The Office of Finance was an incredibly important part of the system the Dark Lord had instituted. As Pansy had always been vaguely aware of, the system was deeply corrupt in favor of the purebloods that made up the core part of the Dark Lord's support. Wands were completely denied to muggleborns like Hermione, and halfbloods were similarly excluded from being officially allowed to use magic. The difference was that they had access to a black market controlled by Death Eaters where wands could be purchased at exorbitant prices, with the proceeds divided equally among the pureblood families. Pansy had always known that the excessive comfort she had grown up with was the result of unfair practices, but only recently had she realized that most of it had come from the fees drawn from halfbloods who were forced to go into heavy debt to even carry a wand.

The lift chimed and a cool female voice announced that Pansy had arrived at the top level of the Ministry. Pansy exited the lift and tried her best not to look surprised at the opulence that surrounded her. Draco had been lying when he had denied the rumors about this place. The blood-red velvet carpeting and marble walling were exactly as rumored, with only the serenading nymphs not being in evidence.

As it was after-hours, the receptionist desk was empty. Perhaps it was different during working hours, but the large room was surprisingly dark and subdued. Pansy appreciated both of these things as she walked through the Office of Finance. Searching for Draco Malfoy's desk whilst not looking like she was doing that would be a challenge, but thankfully, there were only about half a dozen people in the large, airy room. None of whom paid Pansy any attention once they saw who she appeared to be.

Pansy paused and considered that perhaps Draco had his own office. The son of Lucius Malfoy probably received special treatment. Pansy turned away from the line of desks in the center of the room and examined the doors on the walls of the room. It wouldn't be anything too large, considering Draco had only been working for a few months. Pansy drifted towards the back corner of the room where the smaller offices seemed to be. Pansy passed only a few doors until she found (to her considerable relief) what she was looking for: the office of Draco Malfoy, who was apparently the Special Assistant to the Head of Gringotts Management.

Pansy grasped the golden doorknob to Draco's office but drew her hand away quickly when the knob became warm. It wasn't painfully hot, just surprising to her. Hoping that no one had noticed her strange action, Pansy grabbed the doorknob again and this time held it firmly. The knob heated up further, but after a moment it cooled and Pansy heard a lock disengage. Unless she missed her guess, this was some kind of identification lock that had reacted to what it thought was Draco Malfoy's hand. Pansy opened the door and entered, closing it swiftly behind her.

Draco's office was quite dark. Just as Pansy was about to pull out her wand to illuminate the room, the sconces on the walls lit up, bathing the room in a gentle light. Pansy wasted no time in heading to the large desk in the center of the room. After a quick glance at Malfoy's pocket watch, she saw that she had a little less than half an hour to find information about the Ministry's stockpile of wands and get out.

The papers on Draco's desk weren't immediately helpful. They were mostly balance sheets that dealt with various transfers from Ministry accounts to different pureblood families. The Parkinson family was one of them, but Pansy passed over the papers that dealt with her family's finances. She couldn't afford to get distracted by them. Pansy had a harder time thumbing through the papers on the desk than she would have normally had as well. Draco's larger hands seemed less dextrous to her than Pansy's own smaller ones, but that might have been because she wasn't used to using them.

Below the financial forms were more interesting memos that Draco was fielding from his boss. One of the memos in particular was a directive to unseal several vaults to make room for additional wands purchased from overseas. Pansy drew a breath in as she read it. The Ministry's stockpile of wands was kept at Gringotts! It made sense, after all. Gringotts was, aside from Azkaban, possibly the most secure place in the wizarding world. But Gringotts wasn't where Pansy herself had received her wand. She had gotten it from Ollivander's shop in Diagon Alley when she was a child. That probably meant that a selection of wands was transported from Gringotts to Ollivander's whenever a pureblood child was scheduled to receive their wand. It didn't seem like the most efficient system, but pureblood families were great believers in tradition. For generations, they had gotten their wands from Ollivander's shop in Diagon Alley and they evidently wanted their children to have the same experience.

It was valuable information, but Pansy still needed to know when they were transported and how they were guarded. Pansy went through the rest of the memos quickly, trying to find some mention of it. Another memo directed Draco to request additional members of Magical Law Enforcement to be assigned to Diagon Alley next week. The memo didn't explain why, but if Draco's boss wanted it done, then it had something to do with Gringotts. Pansy filed that away in her mind and flicked through the rest of the memos, looking for any additional information that she could find. But there seemed to be nothing else that was useful.

Pansy leaned back in Draco's leather chair and began to think. His pocket watch told Pansy that she only had a few minutes remaining before she needed to get out. But the information Pansy had so far wasn't quite enough. The wands would probably be transported from Gringotts to Ollivander's sometime next week, and members of Magical Law Enforcement would be in Diagon Alley in force at that point. She had to narrow the time frame down further. Hermione's comrades in the resistance would not be impressed if Pansy came to them with a time frame of "sometime next week".

There was nothing further in the papers on Draco's desk to aid her. Pansy needed to make a logical deduction here of the kind that Hermione excelled at doing. It wasn't exactly her strength, but Pansy focused nevertheless. Was there some other way to figure it out? Pansy's theory about wands being made available at Ollivander's for pureblood children rose in her mind. If that was true, then a pureblood child was set to receive their wand next week. Pansy searched through the encyclopedic knowledge she possessed about pureblood families that had been instilled in her from an early age. Was there a family that had a 7 year old child about to receive their wand? It took Pansy a few moments to calculate the various ages of the many cousins she had, but she soon realized that yes, there was. A Selwyn boy named Oscar was about to turn 7 years old.

After putting the forms back in order, Pansy stood up. She only had 15 minutes to get out of the Ministry and couldn't afford to wait a moment longer. The information she had gotten would have to suffice. She could supplement it later by discretely figuring out the Selwyn boy's exact birthday. Pansy had received her wand on her 7th birthday and imagined that the boy would similarly demand his wand as soon as possible.

The sconces on the wall went out as she exited the office. Pansy, conscious of the limited amount of time she had left, walked out of the Office of Finance a little faster than she had walked in. Draco Malfoy's longer strides were a blessing here. It enabled Pansy to move quicker in a way that would have been conspicuous had she been using her normal body.

Pansy got to the lift and let out a breath as the doors clattered shut. She had only 10 minutes left, but that looked like it was going to be enough time. A short ride in the lift later, and Pansy was back at the Atrium on the first floor. She walked past the guard post there with as much arrogance as before, and was deeply relieved to see the halfblood security guard keep his mouth shut again. It wouldn't surprise her if this security flaw was known and ignored by the Death Eaters that could have fixed it, simply because they didn't want to be bothered by having to prove their identity every time they passed the guard post.

* * *

Pansy Apparated back into her hotel room with a loud crack. The first thing she saw was Hermione reacting with surprise at Pansy's sudden entrance. But as much as Pansy's eyes were naturally drawn to her girlfriend, she forced herself to make certain that Draco Malfoy was still asleep on the bed. He was lying on the bed in the same position he had been in for the last hour. Pansy could see the blonde hair and upturned nose that, until a few minutes ago, she had worn as features on her own face. The Polyjuice Potion that she had drunk earlier had worn off only a few minutes after Pansy had left the Ministry. She had been forced to duck into a dark alley until her detransformation had been completed.

Pansy kicked the shoes she had been wearing away from her. After she had returned to her normal body, the men's robes she had put on were now billowing around her like an oversized poncho, and the shoes were completely impossible for Pansy to walk in. After having removed the shoes, Pansy took off her robes with the simple act of drawing in her shoulders and watched them fall to the ground. This meant that she was now completely naked, but Pansy didn't mind. She was so pleased to have returned to her usual body that a little nudity was refreshing for her.

"So how did it go?" Hermione asked her from her place on the edge of the bed, admirably avoiding being distracted by Pansy's lack of clothes.

"Pretty well. I think I have enough to make your friends happy." Pansy answered brightly, looking down at her body and smiling.

"That's great. And nobody suspected anything?" Hermione asked with a touch of worry in her voice.

"Not that I could tell. It was easier than I thought it would be." Pansy assured her girlfriend, now angling her body to the side to get a better look at it.

"Is there something you're looking for?" Hermione asked once more, this time raising her eyebrows slightly.

"Nope. Just enjoying the view." Pansy said, rather flirtatiously.

Pansy's reference to "the view" naturally made Hermione look her over. She watched as her girlfriend's eyes stopped at Pansy's bare pussy. From the way Hermione began to blush, it was clear that Pansy wasn't the only one who liked what she saw. Pansy sat down at the edge of the bed next to Hermione. Although she wanted nothing more than to start kissing her girlfriend at once, making sure that Malfoy was not about to wake up was the responsible thing to do.

"How long do you think the Sleeping Draught will last, love?" Pansy asked, glancing over at Malfoy.

"For another hour at least. I made it as potent as I could." Hermione answered, looking at Malfoy before returning her gaze to Pansy.

"Good. There's just one thing we should do first." Pansy said, grabbing the corner of the sheets on the bed.

Pansy flipped the sheets so that they covered Malfoy's face. She couldn't speak for Hermione, but that simple change made her feel more relaxed. Pansy then turned her full attention back to Hermione. She leaned forward and kissed her girlfriend intently. Hermione responded by putting her hands on Pansy's waist and pulling her closer. As they began kissing more intensely, Pansy brought her hands around to the back of Hermione's sensible dress and tried to unbutton it.

It was a simple task that was made far more difficult by the way that Hermione quickly moved her hand between Pansy's legs. Pansy broke off the kiss and gasped loudly. The feeling of Hermione's fingers gently rubbing her pussy was incredible. Pansy's progress at unbuttoning Hermione's dress had come to a stop, but after taking a few moments to simply enjoy the pleasure her girlfriend was giving her, Pansy started up again.

As soon as Pansy successfully undid the first button, Hermione began rubbing her a little faster. It didn't seem like a coincidence, and as Pansy searched her girlfriend's brown eyes, she understood immediately what the game was. Every time Pansy successfully undid a button, Hermione would pick up the pace with her rubbing. By the time Pansy was halfway done, Hermione had inserted a finger into Pansy's pussy.

"This is...so...so not fair, love." Pansy said, panting in between her moans.

"I know. But if you're going to complain, then why are you moving your hips?" Hermione asked with a smile, arching an eyebrow as she kept rubbing between Pansy's legs.

It was a fair question. Pansy was indeed moving her hips so that her pussy would grind against Hermione's fingers that much harder. The truth was that Pansy didn't have much control over her body's actions at this point. A powerful orgasm was building inside her, and Pansy's pace was slowing the longer the game went on. Pansy still had a few buttons go before she bowed to the inevitable and gave up on unbuttoning Hermione's dress. Instead, Pansy embraced her girlfriend and squeezed her thighs together as tightly as she could before her impending climax.

Pansy's scorching climax swept her conscious thoughts away. All Pansy knew was that she could let herself go completely, safe as she was in her girlfriend's embrace. Time once again lost its meaning for Pansy for as long as her orgasm lasted. As she started to come down from it and regained some awareness, Pansy saw a lump on the bed out of the corner of her eye where Malfoy still slumbered. It hadn't been an hour, that was for sure.

The sound of moving fabric made Pansy return her attention to her girlfriend. Hermione had made use of her spare time by finishing Pansy's work on the back of her dress. It dropped from Hermione's shoulders, leaving her violet bra exposed. Pansy, who had been feeling quite tired a moment ago, felt her energy start to return.

"You know just how to pick me back up, love." Pansy said appreciatively.

Hermione smiled and shimmied her dress down her body. Pansy helped Hermione remove her dress completely, and afterward, her girlfriend leaned back onto the headboard of the bed. It might have been slightly uncomfortable for someone else, but Hermione's bushy hair made for a fine cushion. Pansy crawled forward until she was level with Hermione's chest. She kissed the bare skin underneath her girlfriend's bra until Hermione had unhooked it. Pansy wasted no time before beginning to suck Hermione's nipples.

Stimulating her girlfriend's nipples whilst listening to her pleasurable sighs for the rest of the night seemed like a nice idea to Pansy. But that wasn't really an option. Pansy continued to flick her tongue over Hermione's nipples until her girlfriend let it be known that she wanted more. That came a few minutes later when Pansy saw Hermione use her hands to pull down her violet knickers.

Pansy smiled and began kissing her way down Hermione's body. It briefly occurred to her that she could use her fingers on Hermione's pussy just as her girlfriend had done earlier, but it didn't hold much appeal. Pansy loved to use her tongue to stimulate the most intimate part of her girlfriend's body and had the sense that Hermione strongly preferred it that way as well. Even now, Pansy could hear Hermione's breath speed up in anticipation as Pansy's lips reached her pussy.

As much as Pansy wanted to take her time here, they didn't have all night. So instead of slowly lapping at Hermione's pussy as she usually did, Pansy immediately began to suck on her clit. Hermione let out a loud gasp as soon as she felt it. Hermione's clit was extremely sensitive, so Pansy usually treated it a little more gently, but there wasn't time for that. Plus she might have been harboring a tiny bit of resentment for the rigged game Hermione had played with her earlier.

Hermione squeezed her thighs to the point of wrapping her legs around Pansy's head. Pansy did not let up on Hermione's clit one iota, however. Her girlfriend's pleasurable cries increased as she began moving her hips unconsciously, much like Pansy had done earlier. That was how Pansy knew for certain that Hermione's climax was about to hit her. Pansy simply settled in and committed herself to providing her girlfriend with the most pleasure she possibly could.

Hermione's predictable shrieks filled the room. They made Pansy slightly nervous this time, as she had no view of Malfoy to make certain that they wouldn't somehow wake him up. But Hermione's legs were wrapped around her head tightly, and Pansy didn't know whether she could have freed herself if she tried. Pansy could only hope that the Sleeping Draught she had slipped him was as powerful as Hermione had claimed.

Eventually, more than a minute, the volume in the room lessened as Hermione's orgasm faded. Her girlfriend's (hopefully) unconscious headscissors grip slacked as well, and Pansy pushed herself up to look over at Malfoy. It seemed that Hermione knew exactly what she was talking about after all, as Malfoy continued to snooze despite everything. Pansy turned her attention back to Hermione and saw that her girlfriend had one eye open.

"You could have been a little more gentle." Hermione said, remonstrating Pansy in a tired tone.

"Sorry, love. I didn't think we had all night." Pansy said apologetically, picking up Hermione's discarded knickers and handing them to her.

"I wasn't sure about what I was going to tell Malfoy, but now I think that when I Confund him, I'll make him believe that you two had wild sex together." Hermione said in a grumpy tone, putting her bra back on.

Pansy made a face but didn't otherwise complain. She probably should have forgiven Hermione rather than engage in the petty tit-for-tat as she had done, and was going to rectify that mistake now by being as gracious as she could. Pansy gathered up all of her discarded men's wizarding robes and stuffed them inside Hermione's enchanted beaded bag. Hermione had managed to mostly dress in the time it took to do that, and both of them tidied up the room until it looked presentable.

"Alright, love. I'll need a day or two to refine the information I have. Once I've done that, you can take it to your friends. I think they'll be satisfied." Pansy said briskly, once she had put her rather scandalous scarlet dress back on.

Hermione nodded and withdrew her wand. It might have been better to have Pansy be the one to Confund Malfoy, but Pansy's penchant for reading gossip magazines, (and unbeknownst to Hermione, writing poems about her) in class made itself felt here. Pansy had never really gotten the hang of Confunding anyone. Hermione, however, had it down to a science. Pansy gave Hermione a quick kiss before pulling out her own wand.

The night had gone very well, all things considered. Maybe Pansy was better at this double agent activity than she thought. She hadn't gotten herself killed, as she had blithely assumed at the beginning of it all. Pansy rather thought that it was more luck than skill that had gotten her this far, along with generous assistance from her love, but regardless, she was still breathing at the end of the night. Pansy could only hope that it would continue to be the case.

With a deep breath and a wave goodbye to her girlfriend, Pansy Disapparated from the hotel room.

(This feels like it's going a little long for a smut centered fic, and judging from the lack of response here ((a common issue on this site, I know)) readers evidently agree. I may pick it up again sometime in the future, but for now, consider chapter 21 to be the end of this fic. Thanks for reading.)


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